UC-NRLF 


GIFT  OF 
Gladys   Isaacson 


pilgrim  Series 

ADVANCED  LESSONS 


The  Prophets 


as 


Statesmen  and  Preachers 


BY 
HENRY  T.  FOWLER,  Ph.  D. 

Professor  of  Biblical  Literature  and  History,  Brown 
University 


BOSTON 

Hbe  pilgrim  press 

NEW  YORK  CHICAGO 


15  S 

Fe. 


Copyright,  1904 
By  M.  C.  HAZARD 


GIFT  OF 
GLADYS     ISAACSON 


THE  •  PLIMPTON  •  PRESS 


NORWOOD  •  MASS  •  U  •  S  •  A 


Preface 

IN  the  present  course  of  lessons,  the  effort  is  made  to 
understand  the  life  and  work  of  Israel's  great  prophets  in 
connection  with  the  history  of  their  times,  and  to  show 
how  their  teachings  developed  with  the  changing  con- 
ditions and  needs  of  successive  generations.  This  his- 
torical method  of  studying  prophecy  has  the  twofold 
advantage  of  giving  vital  interest  to  books  that  often 
seem  remote  from  human  life,  and  of  avoiding  many 
dangers  of  erroneous  interpretation.  Application  of  the 
prophetical  teaching  to  our  own  day  is  made  only  after 
an  attempt  to  understand  what  the  prophet  intended  to 
teach  his  own  generation;  and  then  the  application  is 
often  so  plain  that  no  thoughtful  Christian  can  fail  to 
make  it  for  himself. 

This  second  book  in  the  "Pilgrim  Series  of  Advanced 
Lessons  "  follows  naturally  after  the  more  general  study  of 
"The  Books  of  the  Bible  with  Relation  to  their  Place  in 
History,1'  yet  the  present  course  is  complete  in  itself  and 
may  profitably  be  pursued  by  those  who  have  not  fol- 
lowed the  earlier  course.  The  lessons  are  arranged  in 
two  groups  of  twelve  with  a  review  following  each  group, 
so  that  the  course  offers  one  lesson  a  week  for  six  months. 
If  time  permits,  the  final  review  may  well  be  extended 
over  two  weeks,  as  indicated  in  the  text. 

3 


4  PREFACE 

All  Biblical  quotations  in  the  lessons  follow  the  transla- 
tion of  the  Revised  Version,  American  Standard  Edi- 
tion. A  copy  of  this,  or  of  the  British*  Revision,  should 
be  in  the  hands  of  every  one  following  the  present  course 
of  study.  Some  may  prefer  to  read  from  the  version  of 
1611,  but  constant  reference  should  be  made  to  the  Re- 
vised Version  for  help  in  interpreting  difficult  passages. 

The  discussion  of  debatable  questions  is,  as  far  as 
possible,  excluded.  Where  it  is  necessary  to  speak 
upon  some  point  on  which  scholars  differ,  the  view 
which  seems  to  have  the  preponderance  of  evidence  in 
its  favor  is  stated  as  probable,  often  with  one  or  two  of 
the  most  obvious  reasons  in  its  support.  In  all  their 
positive  statements,  the  lessons  aim  to  present  only  that 
upon  which  most  competent  Biblical  scholars  are  in 
agreement.  The  books  suggested  in  the  appendix  con- 
tain discussions  of  all  important  problems  of  history  and 
interpretation  that  will  be  apt  to  arise. 

This  little  book  is  offered  to  advanced  classes  in  the 
Sunday-school  and  other  Bible  students,  in  the  hope  that 
it  may  help  some  toward  a  better  knowledge  of  the  real 
course  of  divine  revelation  and  a  fuller  appreciation  of 
the  Old  Testament  as  a  book  of  life. 


The  Prophets 

as 
Statesmen  and  Preachers 


The   Prophets 


as 


Statesmen  and  Preachers 


OUTLINE  OF  COURSE 
INTRODUCTION 

1.  General  classification  of  prophets. 

2.  Prophecy  before  the  eighth  century. 

I.  PROPHETS  OF  THE  EIGHTH  CENTURY 

1.  Amos. 

2.  Hosea. 

3.  Isaiah  1-39  (early  ministry). 

4.  Isaiah  1-39  (later  ministry). 

5.  Micah. 

II.  PROPHETS  OF  THE  SEVENTH  CENTURY 

1.  Zephaniah. 

2.  Jeremiah  (first  period). 

3.  Nahum. 

4.  Jeremiah  (second  period). 

5.  Habakkuk. 

6.  Jeremiah  (third  period). 

III.  PROPHETS  OF  THE  EXILE  AND  RESTORATION 

1.  Ezekiel  (first  period). 

2.  Obadiah  and  prophecies  of  Ezekiel  against  foreign 

nations. 

7 


8  OUTLINE   OF   COURSE 

3.  Ezekiel  (second  period). 

4.  Isaiah  40-55.       ^ 

5.  Haggai. 

6.  Zechariah. 

7.  Malachi. 

8.  Isaiah  56-66. 

IV.  PROPHETS  OF  THE  AGE  OF  LEQALISM 

1.  Joel. 

2.  Jonah. 

3.  Daniel  1-6. 

4.  Daniel  7-12. 


The  Prophets  as  Statesmen  and 
Preachers 


LESSON  I          »•*"  ;* 
INTRODUCTION 

I.     GENERAL  CLASSIFICATION  OF  PROPHETS 

A  reference  in  the  book  of  Jeremiah  distinguishes 
three  classes  of  teachers  in  ancient  Israel,  the  priests,  the 
Israel's  wise,  and  the  prophets.  Each  of  these 
Teachers  contributed  its  portion  to  the  thirty-nine 
books  that  compose  our  Old  Testament.  The  conduct 
of  formal  worship,  with  the  development  and  preserva- 
tion of  the  many  laws  and  customs  controlling  it,  was 
the  chief  task  of  the  priests.  Even  when  they  wrote 
their  nation* s  history,  their  dominant  purpose  was  evi- 
dently to  emphasize  its  ritual  aspects.  The  wise  occu- 
pied themselves  largely  with  observations  upon  the  con- 
duct of  practical  life  and  with  problems  concerning  the 
divine  government  or  the  value  of  human  life.  Prov- 
erbs, Job  and  Ecclesiastes  illustrate  the  various  tenden- 
cies of  their  thought.  It  was  through  the  prophets, 
chiefly,  that  the  nature  of  God  and  his  moral  and  spirit- 

9 


IO  INTRODUCTION 

ual  demands  were  revealed.     They  developed  the  ethical 
and  spiritual  religion  of  Israel. 

In  English,  the  words  prophet  and  prophesy  are  used 
ordinarily  in  the  meaning  foreteller  and  foretell ;  but  the 
Title  Hebrew  words  that  they  represent  in  the 
Prophet  Old  Testament  were  not  necessarily  used 
in  any  such  limited  sense,  and  did  not  have  such  mean- 
ing in^  their, origin.  Abimelech  was  told  that  Abraham 
was  £  jp>phfct  whose  prayer  would  be  effective;  here  the 
word  seems  to  mean  one  who  enjoyed  a  peculiarly  close 
•  r^l&tibn  with  God.  Indeed,  the  terms  man  of  God  and 
prophet  are  often  used  interchangeably.  Still,  this  does 
not  give  us  in  full  the  Old  Testament  idea  of  the 
prophet,  nor  the  exact  root  meaning  of  the  word.  When 
Moses  objected  that  Pharaoh  would  not  hearken  to  him, 
he  was  told  that  Aaron  should  be  his  prophet  and  should 
speak  unto  Pharaoh.  This  passage  illustrates  the  proba- 
ble root  meaning  of  the  word  prophet,  namely  "  speaker/' 
When  Jeremiah  is  made  aware  of  his  appointment  as 
a  prophet,  his  instant  cry  is,  "Ah,  Lord  Jehovah  1 
behold,  I  know  not  how  to  speak."  When  he  and  Isaiah 
and  Ezekiel  are  called  to  the  prophetic  office,  they 
are  all  commissioned  to  speak  unto  the  people  and  the 
message  assigned  to  them  is  not  primarily,  or  exclu- 
sively, one  of  prediction  of  the  unknown  future.  A 
careful  historical  study  of  the  life  work  of  each  of  Israel's 
great  prophets  will  recognize  a  large  element  of  foretell- 
ing, but  will  not  find  this,  by  any  means,  the  chief  thing 
in  their  messages.  From  every  point  of  view  one  is 
forced  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Old  Testament  idea  of 


INTRODUCTION  1 1 

true  prophecy  included  far  more  than  prediction.     The 
Hebrew  prophet  was  God's  spokesman,  whether  his  mes- 
sage at  the  particular  time  concerned  chiefly  the  past, 
present,  or  future.     The  Jews,  themselves,  denominate 
Former        tne  books  of  Joshua,  Judges,  Samuel  and 
Prophets       Kings,  the  "  Former  Prophets,"  counting 
these  writings  that  impress  the  lessons  from  Jehovah's 
past  dealings  with  his  people,  the  work  of  prophets  as 
truly  as  the  writings  of  Isaiah  or  Jeremiah.     To  these  last 
two,  together  with  Ezekiel  and  "  the  Twelve  "  they  apply 
Latter         tne    caption    "Latter   Prophets,"    while 
Prophets       Daniel  is  not  included  within  their  pro- 
phetic canon  at  all.     This  last  fact,  however,  was  prob- 
ably due  to  the  circumstance  that  the  book  was  not  writ- 
ten till  the  prophetic  canon  had  been  completed.     While 
Daniel  is  very  different  from  the  earlier  prophetic  writings 
of  Israel,  it  is  the  culmination  of  certain  distinct  tenden- 
cies that  developed  in  the  books  of  the  prophetic  canon. 

It  is  common  to  speak  of  the  prophets  whose  names 
are  prefixed  to  separate  books  as  the  "  writing  prophets,'1 
Writing  m  distinction  from  those  whom  we  know 
Prophets  only  from  narratives  in  the  historical 
books.  The  list  of  these  latter  is  a  long  one,  from 
Abraham  and  Moses,  through  Samuel,  Nathan,  Gad,  and 
others  less  conspicuous,  to  Elijah  and  Elisha.  The  dis- 
tinction that  differentiates  the  writing  prophets  from  these 
is  a  convenient  one,  though  it  may  foster  the  error  of 
supposing  that  the  writing  prophets  necessarily  wrote  the 
books  bearing  their  names.  In  some  cases,  it  is  highly 
probable  that  the  prophets'  disciples  gathered  together  all 


12  INTRODUCTION 

possible  memorials,  whether  written  or  preserved  only  in 
the  tablets  of  their  hearts,  and  from  these  composed  our 
existing  books;  again,  one  of  the  "latter  prophets"  is  a 
narrative  of  which  the  prophet  is  the  subject  rather  than 
the  author. 

The  distinction  between  the  "  Major  "  and  the  "  Minor 
Prophets"   is  another  convenient  one  for  purposes  of 
Major  and      reference,  but  one  that  is  dangerous,  in 
Minor  Prophets  that  it  may  lead  to  regarding  the  twelve 
shorter,  or  minor  books,  as  necessarily  of  inferior  signifi- 
cance;   whereas,  some  of  them  stand  in  the  very  first 
rank  in  the  development  of  Old  Testament  revelation. 
In  the  present  course  of  study,  this  common  distinction 
will  be  avoided. 

II.  PROPHECY  BEFORE  THE  EIGHTH  CENTURY 
While  Abraham  is  once  called  a  prophet  and  Moses 
has  this  title  given  him  several  times,  a  passage  in  Samuel 
implies  that  the  title  was  introduced  in  Israel  at  a  com- 
paratively late  date.  It  must  have  been  applied  to  these 
earlier  men  of  God  only  by  a  later  generation  which 
recognized  in  them  the  spirit  of  the  true  prophet. 

In  the  narratives  concerning  the  days  of  Samuel,  there 
appear  groups  of  religious  enthusiasts  traveling  about  the 
Sons  of  the     country    who    are    called    "  sons   of    the 
Prophets       prophets."     They   are   prominent   again, 
some  two  hundred  years  later,  in  the  narratives  concern- 
ing Elisha.     From  these  enthusiasts,  going  about  with 
music  and  song,  or  living  together  in  a  communal  state, 
whose  ecstatic  practices  suggest  a  very  primitive  type  of 


INTRODUCTION  I 3 

religion,  to  the  great  prophetic  teachers  of  Israel,  is  a 
long  step,  indeed.  Samuel  and  Elisha  appear,  it  is  true, 
in  connection  with  these  companies,  but  the  great  Elijah 
stands  forth  as  a  lone  figure,  and,  before  the  wondrous 
succession  of  Israel's  writing  prophets  begins  its  work, 
these  primitive  companies  disappear  from  the  historical 
narratives.  The  earliest  writing  prophet  denies  that  he 
has  any  connection,  whatever,  with  such  an  order. 
These  companies  may  have  accomplished  something  for 
Israel,  but  the  references  to  them  give  little  help  in  the 
effort  to  trace  the  nourishing  roots  of  later  prophecy.  It 
is  not  improbable  that,  like  so  many  religious  orders 
which  were  sincere  in  their  early  years,  they  became  cor- 
rupt and  were  a  source  of  the  multitude  of  false  prophets 
that  swarmed  in  Israel,  more  truly  than  of  the  great 
writing  prophets. 

The  picture  of  the  prophet  Nathan  rebuking  David  for 
his  great   moral  sin,  contains   some  suggestion  of  the 

Nathan        WOr^  °^  ^mos  anc*  Isaian>  but  it  is  Elijah, 

in    the    middle    of    the    ninth    century, 

a  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  Nathan,  who  seems  the 

typical  forerunner  of  the  great  statesmen-preachers  of  the 

eighth  century.     His  teaching  would  lead  to  a  political 

Elijah  course  upon  which^the  later  prophets  in- 
sisted with  great  unanimity,  namely,  com-  -*>.' 
plete  avoidance  of  foreign  alliances.  David  sought 
alliance,  with  no  prophet  rebuking  him,  but  such  con- 
nections led,  inevitably,  in  the  next  generation,  to  cor- 
ruption of  Jehovah  worship  through  its  intermingling 
with  the  heathen  practices  of  the  national  allies.  In 


14  INTRODUCTION 

Elijah's  generation,  the  king  had  renewed  Israel's  ancient 
alliance  with  Phoenicia  by  marrying  the  Tyrian  princess 
Jezebel,  who  proved  an  active  propagator  of  her  own 
religion.  Elijah's  great  principle  of  jealousy  for  Jehovah 
came  to  its  full  expression  in  opposition  to  the  influences 
for  which  Jezebel  stood.  The  carrying  out  of  this  prin- 
ciple involved  complete  hostility  to  all  political  alliance 
with  Israel's  neighbors.  The  other  great  prophetic  princi- 
ple for  which  Elijah  stands,  is  the  recognition  of  the  rights 
of  the  private  citizen  against  the  tyranny  of  the  ruler.  It 
was  not  on  the  occasion  of  Ahab's  fostering  of  Baal  worship, 
but  of  his  conduct  in  the  matter  of  Naboth's  vineyard 
that  Elijah  announced  the  signal  downfall  of  his  dynasty. 
A  study  of  the  prophets,  considered  as  statesmen  and 
preachers,  will  show  these  principles  of  Elijah  develop- 
ing far  beyond  his  presentation  of  them,  taking  new 
forms  in  the  midst  of  new  conditions  and  adding  to 
themselves  other  teachings,  till  the  combined  body  of 
prophetic  truth  reveals  the  foundation  principles  of  all 
wise  statesmanship,  right  morals,  and  true  religion. 


III.     POINTS  TO  BE  NOTED  IN  PREPARATION 

Three  classes  of  teachers  in  Israel  (Jer.  18:  18);  Abraham  called  a 
prophet  (Gen.  20:  7);  tUfte  called  prophet  of  Moses  (Ex.  7:  I,  2) ; 
prophetic  commissions  of  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  Ezekiel  (Isa.  6 :  5-13, 
Jer.  1 :  4-10,  Ezek.  2-3 :  15)  ;  the  early  name  for  a  prophet  in  Israel 
(I  Sam.  9:  9);  sons  of  prophets  (i  Sam.  10:  5,  10-12,  19:  18-24; 
"  Vi  I  '*""'  I  '  T*  IT  p  — |  A  '  I^JUiihi)-  the  work  of 
Nathan  (2  Sam.  12 :  1-15)  ;  Elijah's  fundamental  principles  ( I  Kings 
19:  14,  2l*i 7-24). 

,      ^ 


INTRODUCTION  1 5 

IV.     POINTS  FOR  REVIEW  IN  CLASS 

Israel's  classes  of  teachers  and  the  distinctive  functions  of  each ; 
meaning  of  the  title  "  prophet "  in  Old  Testament ;  significance  of 
the  term  "  former  prophets  " ;  the  term  "  writing  prophets  "  ;  danger 
of  misinterpretation  of  term  "  minor  prophets  "  ;  characteristics  of 
"  sons  of  the  prophets  " ;  distinction  between  these  and  the  great 
individual  prophets;  special  importance  of  narrative  of  Nathan; 
the  two  great  principles  for  which  Elijah  stood ;  date  of  Elijah ;  his 
interest  in  relation  to  the  eighth  century  writing  prophets ;  his  in- 
terest in  relation  to  the  age-long  struggle  for  human  liberty ;  the 
political  significance  of  his  jealousy  for  Jehovah ;  the  religious  sig- 
nificance of  this  principle  for  our  own  lives. 


1 6       PROPHETS  OF  THE  EIGHTH  CENTURY 


I.     Prophets  of  the  Eightji  Century 


LESSON  II 
AMOS 

Suggestions  for  Review. — The  three  classes  of  teachers  in  Israel ; 
meaning  of  the  name  "  prophet "  in  Old  Testament ;  application  of 
the  terms  "  former  "  and  "  latter  prophets  " ;  meaning  of  the  term 
"  writing  prophets  " ;  great  principles  for  which  Elijah  stood  j  rela- 
tion of  his  work  to  that  of  the  prophets  of  later  centuries. 

I.     THE  PROPHET  AND  His  WORK 

Some  twelve  miles  south  of  Jerusalem,  on  the  crest  of 
the  central  ridge  of  Palestine,  lay  Tekoa,  where  Amos 
Th  Ma  dwelt.  It  was  a  high  and  desolate  region 
from  which  the  broken  cliffs  of  the  wilder- 
ness of  Judaea  descended  precipitously  to  the  Dead  Sea. 
Here  Amos  was  a  herdsman  tending  a  stunted  variety  of 
sheep,  characteristic  of  the  district,  and  caring  for  the 
sycomore  figs  that  furnished  a  poor  quality  of  food. 
While  his  occupation  was  of  the  humblest  and  he  denied 
any  connection  with  the  professional  prophets  of  his  age, 
Amos  was  a  man  possessed^  of  a  power  of  eloquence,  which 
combined  astute  appeals  to  men's  interest  and  passion 
with  logic  inexorable,  and  o^ejwho  expressed  his  thought 
withji  wealth  of  illustration  from  history  and  nature.  Yet 
these  were  but  accessories  of  the  prophet.  To  his  intense, 
direct,  absolutely  sincere  heart  the  secret  of  the  ages  had 
been  laid  open. 


AMOS  17 

Amos  lived  during  the  long  and  exceedingly  prosper- 
ous reign  of  Jeroboam  II,  and,  probably,  fulfilled  his 
mission  during  the  latter  half  of  the  reign, 
when  success  had  already  been  achieved 
by  that  monarch.  His  work  was  thus  done  about  the 
middle  of  the  eighth  century  B.  c.,  approximately  one 
hundred  years  later  than  the  labors  of  his  great  fore- 
runner Elijah,  and  nearly  two  centuries  after  the  division 
of  the  kingdom  under  Rehoboam  and  Jeroboam  I. 
Before  the  reign  of  Jeroboam  II,  Israel  had  suffered 
greatly  from  her  protracted  wars  with  Syria,  but  this 
ancient  foe  had,  in  turn,  been  almost  annihilated  by  the 
Assyrian  attack  from  the  east,  and  the  Hebrews  had  thus 
been  able  to  recover  the  territory  they  had  lost  during 
their  weakened  condition.  Thus,  in  the  days  of  Jero- 
boam II,  the  combined  territory  of  Israel  and  Judah  com- 
pared favorably  in  extent  with  the  kingdom  of  David  and 
Solomon.  In  the  book  of  Amos  one  may  discover  that 
this  era  of  military  success  was  also  an  age  of  great  luxury 
and  self-confidence,  with  their  accompanying  moral  vices, 
especially,  cruel  oppression  of  the  poor,  perversion  of 
justice  for  bribes,  and  dishonest  business  practices.  The 
nation  of  Israel  evidently  regarded  its  prosperity  as  a 
mark  of  Jehovah's  especial  favor,  and  deemed  it  necessary 
only  to  maintain  generous  and  elaborate  ritual  worship 
in  order  to  retain  his  blessings. 

In  the  midst  of  these  conditions  Amos  appeared  at 
Jeroboam's  sanctuary  at  Beth-el  and  declared,  in  burning 

utterances,  that  Israel  should  suffer  for  her 
The  Message  .     T 

sins  just   as   other  nations :    indeed,  Je- 


1 8       PROPHETS  OF  THE  EIGHTH  CENTURY 

hovah's  peculiar  blessings  upon  her  were  but  the  ground 
of  greater  responsibility.  If  the  people  would  turn  from 
their  acts  of  injustice,  oppression,  dishonesty,  from  their 
cruel  and  frivolous  lives,  the  remnant  might  be  saved ; 
but  Jehovah  was  about  to  raise  up  a  nation  to  afflict 
Israel  from  whose  oppression  escape  could  not  be  found. 
The  mass  of  Israel  clearly  held  the  view  common 
among  Semitic  peoples  that  their  God  was  the  god  of  the 
nation  simply,  whose  especial  favor  was  to  be  won  by 
conformity  to  his  ritual  and  whose  satisfaction  and 
prowess  were  shown  when  the  nation  was  triumphant 
over  its  enemies.  Amos  flung  back  the  curtain  that 
veiled  all  eyes  and  revealed  Jehovah  ofjsrael  as  a  Godjrf 
justice.  He  introduced  the  epoch-making  teaching  that 
'God^demanded  Justice  between  nation  and  nation,,  man 
and_man,  rather  than  sacred  assemblies  and  offerings, 
and^that  he  would  bring  vengeance  upon  all  nati'onsy  in- 
cluding his^own  people7^6ecause^oY  ttiejrjnpral  evils. 
Since  the  prophet^vision  hacTpierceato  the  very  nature 
of  Jehovah,  as  no  man's  before  had  done,  he  alone  was 
able  to  see  that  the  nation's  proud  success  was  but  the 
prelude  of  utter  ruin,  because  beneath  power  and  pros- 
perity lay  moral  corruption.  The  preacher  of  righteous- 
ness was  thus  the  enunciator  to  Israel  and  to  the  world 
of  this  eternal  truth  of  statesmanship — the  nation  that 
persistently  allows  the  selfish  exploitati^ 
pefvertiTju§ttce4}^^  its  business  system, 

is  doomed  to  extinction.  To-day,  one  may  read  the 
pages  of  the  world's  history  writ  full  with  the  verifica- 
tion of  Amos1  political  doctrine.  With  him  it  was  based 


AMOS  19 

• 

on  something  deeper  and  more  certain  than  human  ex- 
perience, however  wide  and  unvarying.  It  followed 
inevitably  from  Amos'  knowledge  that  a  God  of  justice 
ruled  the  nations. 

II.     ANALYSIS  OF  LESSON 

Preface. — 1:  I,  2. 
Opening  Address. — 1 :  3-2. 

Nations  shall  be  punished  for  sins. — 1 :  3-2 :  5. 

Israel  will  fare  similarly. — 2  :  6- 1 6. 
Discourses  Expanding  Indictment  of  Israel. — 3-6. 

First  discourse. — 3. 

Second  discourse. — 4. 

Third  discourse. — 5,  6. 
Visions  of  Destruction. — 7-9. 

Locusts  (7:  1-3);  Fire  (4-6);  Plumbline  (7-9);  Historical 
statement  (10-17);  Summer  fruit  (8:  1-14);  Jehovah  by 
the  altar  (9:  1-6). 
Epilogue.— 9:7-15. 

Home  Readings. — The  above  analysis  will  furnish  a  helpful  out- 
line for  daily  reading  of  Scripture  and  the  entire  prophecy  may  thus 
be  read  during  the  week  by  the  expenditure  of  a  few  moments 
each  day ;  or  the  following  selections  may  be  made :  ( i)  1 :  3-15  ; 
(2)  2:  i-io;  (3)  3:  1-8;  (4)  4:  i-ii;  (5)  5:  i-n;  (6)  5:  12-24; 
(7)  7:  7-17. 

III.     POINTS  TO  BE  NOTED  IN  PREPARATION 

Facts  concerning  the  prophet  (1:  I;  3:  7,  8;  7:  10-15);  some 
Biblical  references  to  Tekoa  (2  Sam.  14:  2ff.;  23:  26;  Nehemiah 
3:  5,  27);  the  ruler  of  Israel  (1:  I;  7:  10);  prosperity  of  Israel 
(3 :  12,  15  ;  5 :  1 1 ;  6  :  4-7  ;  2  Kings  14 :  23-29) ;  preceding  calamities 
(4:6-11;  2  Kings  13 :  7) ;  moral  corruption  (2 :  6-8-;  3 :  9 ;  4 :  I ; 


2O       PROPHETS  OF  THE  EIGHTH  CENTURY 

5:  II;  8:4;  5:  1  2  ;  8:5,6;  2:  12;  5:  io);  empty  and  idolatrous 
worship  (3:  14;  4:4-6;  5:4,  5,  21-24;  8:  14)  ;(,self-confidence 
(6:  13;  9:  io);  privileges  and  responsibilities^:  I,  2);  true  means 
of  securing  divine  favor  (5  :  14,  15,  22-24)  ;  impending  doom 


IV.     POINTS  FOR  REVIEW  IN  CLASS 

The  home  and  occupation  of  Amos  ;  Amos*  reason  for  preach- 
ing ;  probable  date  of  ministry  ;  political  conditions  of  the  time  ; 
indications  of  luxury  at  this  period  ;  principal  moral  vices  attacked 
by  the  prophet;  expressions  of  self-confidence  attributed  to  the 
people  by  Amos  ;  means  used  by  the  people  to  retain  Jehovah's 
favor  ;  Amos'  doctrine  of  responsibility  ;  true  means  of  securing 
God's  favor  advocated  by  Amos  ;  Amos'  outlookjbr  the  future  of 
his  nation  ;  some  lessons  from  Amos  for  our  nation,  in  'reference  to 
national  privileges  and  responsibilities,  to  the  public  and  private 
corruption  connected  with  a  time  of  prosperity,  to  confidence  born 
of  material  prosperity;  some  lessons  for  our  personal  lives,  in 
reference  to  the  relative  value  of  worship  and  moral  conduct,  to  a 
layman's  call  to  service  by  the  needs  of  his  day,  to  luxury  versus 
consideration  for  the  poor,  to  the  vital  necessity  of  a  living  sense 
that  Jehovah  is  a  God  of  justice  and  demands  jusfic~e  in  his 
creatures. 


V* 


HOSEA  21 

LESSON  III 
HOSEA 

Suggestions  for  Review. — The  king  under  whom  Amos  lived ; 
the  date  of  Amos'  preaching ;  the  political  condition  of  Israel ; 
the  moral  condition ;  Amos'  teaching  in  view  of  these  conditions ; 
the  most  prominent  attribute  of  Jehovah  in  the  teaching  of  Amos. 

I.     THE  PROPHET  AND  His  WORK 

A  greater  contrast  than  that  between  the  logical,  inex- 
orable preacher  of  divine  justice  and  the  next  prophet  of 

Israel  could  hardly  be  conceived.     Hosea 
The  Man 

was  "  above  all  other  prophets  a  man  of 

deep  affections,  of  a  gentle,  poetic  nature."  Like  the 
prophecy  of  Amos,  his  message  was  delivered  to  north- 
ern Israel,  but,  unlike  Amos,  Hosea  was  probably  him- 
self of  the  northern  tribes  into  whose  misfortunes  he 
entered  with  a  tender  sympathy  impossible  to  one  of  the 
south  ;  to  him,  their  king,  however  unworthy,  was  "our 
king." 

If  the  references  of  the  first  three  chapters  in  the  book 
are  to  be  understood  as  actual  reflections  of  Hosea' s  fam- 
ily experiences,  we  have  intimate  knowledge  of  his 
personal  life  in  its  tragic  details.  Many  regard  the 
story  of  wife  and  children  as  merely  a  parable,  but, 
to  a  large  number  of  scholars,  it  seems  far  more  prob- 
able that  Hosea  actually  found  himself  wedded  to  one 
who  could  neither  comprehend  nor  value  his  singleness 
of  love  and  devotion  and  that,  through  the  tragedy  of  his 


22       PROPHETS  OF  THE  EIGHTH  CENTURY 

private  life,  he  was  prepared  for  his  prophetic  work.  As 
he  looked  back,  after  many  years,  and  saw  how  he  had 
been  led  through  suffering  to  the  liglit,  he  came  to  feel 
that  it  had  all  been  a  part  of  the  divine  plan  for  his  life 
mission.  If  this  explanation  be  the  true  one,  then 
Hosea,  like  Isaiah,  gave  to  his  children  names  that  made 
them  continual  prophecies  to  their  generation. 

The  opening  chapters  of  Hosea  belong  to  the  reign  of 
Jeroboam  II  and  may  be  but  a  very  few  years  later  than 
The  Times  ^e  sermons  °f  Amos.  The  latter  part  of 
the  book  (chapters  4-14)  seems  clearly  to 
reflect  the  years  of  anarchy  that  followed  the  death  of 
Jeroboam,  whose  son  sat  upon  the  throne  but  six  months 
before  the  blood  of  Jezreel  was  avenged  upon  the  house 
of  Jehu  (Hosea  1:4).  The  assassin  ruled  but  a  month 
and  was,  in  turn,  deposed  by  Men  ahem.  This  ruler 
was  forced  to  pay  heavy  tribute  to  Assyria.  After  a 
short  reign  Menahem  died  and  his  son  had  ruled  little 
more  than  one  year  when  Pekah,  the  general  of  the 
army,  seized  the  throne.  In  alliance  with  Damascus,  the 
new  ruler  attacked  Ahaz  of  Judah,  probably  seeking  to 
force  him  into  a  coalition  against  Assyria.  Ahaz,  in  alarm, 
appealed  to  Assyria  whose  king  came  in  reponse  and  de- 
populated the  northern  and  northeastern  districts  of 
Israel.  The  last  of  Hosea's  messages  probably  antedates 
by  a  short  time  these  fatal  complications,  and  thus  be- 
longs more  than  a  dozen  years  before  the  complete  over- 
throw of  northern  Israel.  During  the  proud  reign  of 

T  Jeroboam,  Hosea  gave  his  eldest  son  the 

fateful  name  Jezreel,  significant  of  the 


HOSEA  23 

bloody  doom  soon  to  fall  upon  the  royal  house,  as  it  had 
fallen  at  Jezreel  upon  the  house  of  Ahab  through  the 
founder  of  Jeroboam's  dynasty.  Two  other  children 
were  born  to  the  prophet,  in  the  same  reign,  to  whom 
names  were  given  declaring  the  coming  end  of  divine 
favor  and  national  disinheritance.  Like  Amos,  Hosea 
saw  the  years  of  national  aggrandizement  pregnant  with 
impending  ruin.  His  vision,  however,  is  not  so  promi- 
nently one  of  devastation  through  a  foreign  foe,  but 
rather  that  of  ^spiritual  separation  between ...  God  and 
faithless  Israel,  who  has  preferred  the  sensual  gods  of 
Canaan  before  the  pure  worship  of  Jehovah. 

Through  the  gloom  of  Hosea' s  oracles  there  break 
again  and  again  bright  rays  of  glory  in  the  supreme  faith 
of  the  husband  who  loves  the  erring  wife  and  will  buy 
her  back  to  himself  when  she  has  fallen  to  lowest  depths ; 
faith  that  the  unquenchable  love  of  Jehovah  must  win  his 
people  back  after  a  long  period  of  chastening. 

In  the  succeeding  chapters  one  feels  that  the  national 
ruin  had  already  begun  when  the  words  were  uttered. 
The  succession  of  weak  monarchs  had  come.  They 
looked  now  to  Egypt  and  now  to  Assyria  for  help  and 
knew  not  whither  to  turn.  Priests  were  as  corrupt  as 
usurping  monarchs.  Treachery,  whoredom,  bloodshed, 
idolatry  were  everywhere.  The  nation  must  become  vas- 
sal to  Assyria,  yet  Jehovah's  love  could  not  be  killed  as 
that  of  a  man  might  be : — "  I  will  not  execute  the  fierce- 
ness of  mine  anger  .  .  .  for  I  am  God,  and  not 
man." 


24       PROPHETS  OF  THE  EIGHTH  CENTURY 

II.     ANALYSIS  OF  LESSON 

Title.—! :  I. 

Israel,  the  Faithless  Wife.— 1 :  2-3.  1 

Hosea's  unhappy  marriage  and  the  prophetic  names  of  his 

children. — 1 :  2-2:  I. 

Punishment  followed  by  reconciliation. — 2 1-2-23. 
Love   to   unfaithful  wife   the   type   of   Jehovah's   love  to 

Israel. — 3. 

Discourses  upon  the  Faithlessness  of  Israel  and  the  Faithfulness 
of  Jehovah.— 4-14. 

Rejection  of  knowledge. — 4-6  :  3. 

Internal  anarchy  and  weak  foreign  policy. — 6 :  4-7. 

Exile  in  Egypt  and  Assyria. — 8-9 :  9. 

Innocent  Israel  corrupted. — 9 :  IO-13. 

Return  and  blessing. — 14. 


Home  Readings. — The  above  analysis  will  furnish  a  helpful  out- 
line for  daily  reading  of  Scripture.  From  three  to  five  minutes  each 
day  of  the  week  will  suffice  for  a  careful  reading  of  the  entire 
prophecy ;  or,  the  following  selections  may  be  made  :  ( I )  1 :  2-2 :  I ; 
(2)  2:  2-23;  (3)  4;  (4)  6:4-7:3;  (5)  9: 1-9;  (6)  11 :  i-ii ;  (7)  14. 


III.     POINTS  TO  BE  NOTED  IN  PREPARATION 

The  marriage  and  children  (1 :  3-6,  8,  9 ;  2 :  2,  5  ;  3 :  1-4)  ;  Hosea 
a  prophet  before  fall  of  house  of  Jehu  (1:4);  usurpations  and 
national  weakness  after  death  of  Jeroboam  II  (2  Kings  15 :  8-14,  19, 
20,  24,  25,  29,  30) ;  Hosea  preaches  after  fall  of  house  of  Jehu 
(5:  13;  7:7,  ii;  8:4);  moral  corruption  of  priests,  princes  and 
people  (4  :  I,  2 ;  6 :  9 ;  7  :  3-7) ;  lack  of  knowledge  of  God  (4 :  I,  6)  ; 
coming  doom  (3 :  4;  8 :  I ;  9 :  3)  ;  the  unquenchable  love  of  Jehovah 
(2 :  16,  23  ;4 : 4,  5  ;  11 : 9)  ;  Jehovah's  supreme  requirement  (6 : 4-6)  \ 
hope  for  Israel  (3 :  5 ;  11:9;  13 :  14 ;  14 :  4,  5). 


HOSEA  25 

IV.     POINTS  FOR  REVIEW  IN  CLASS 

The  temperament  of  Hosea  compared  with  that  of  Amos ; 
Hosea's  nationality ;  two  interpretations  of  the  narrative  in  chs. 
1-3 ;  the  significance  of  the  names  ascribed  to  Hosea's  children ; 
the  date  of  the  opening  chapters  of  Hosea  ;  the  national  conditions 
reflected  in  the  later  sermons  ;  the  moral  and  religious  condition  of 
Israel  as  seen  by  Hosea ;  Hosea's  emphasis  upon  knowledge  of 
God ;  the  ground  of  the  prophet's  certainty  of  coming  judgment ; 
Hosea's  pictures  of  Jehovah's  love,  man's  duty  to  a  God  of  love ; 
the  ground  of  Hosea's  hope  in  the  midst  of  ruin  and  despair ;  does 
the  love  that  Hosea  preaches  exclude  justice  ?  is  the  message  of 
Amos  or  Hosea  complete  without  that  of  the  other  ?  human  suffer- 
ing as  a  means  of  leading  one  to  knowledge  of  God  ;  foreglimpses 
of  the  gospel  message  in  Hosea  ;  the  vital  necessity  for  our  Chris- 
tian lives  of  a  vivid  realization  that  the  God  of  justice  is  all-loving 
too. 


26       PROPHETS  OF  THE  EIGHTH  CENTURY 

LESSON  IV 

I 

ISAIAH  1-39  (Early  Ministry) 

Suggestions  for  Review. — The  political  conditions  of  Israel 
during  Hosea's  ministry ;  the  moral  and  religious  conditions ; 
Hosea's  teaching  in  view  of  these  conditions  ;  the  attribute  of  God 
most  emphasized  in  Hosea's  teaching. 

I.     THE  PROPHET  AND  His  WORK 

As  we  turn  to  consider  the  next  member  of  Israel's 
company  of  writing  prophets,  we  pass  from  the  corrupt 
and  disintegrating  kingdom  of  the  north 
to  the  capital  of  the  small,  but  compact 
and  more  stable  kingdom  of  Judah.  Isaiah  fulfilled  his 
mission  chiefly,  if  not  exclusively,  in  Jerusalem  itself. 
Various  slight  indications  of  his  prominence  in  govern- 
mental affairs  under  successive  monarchs  have  led  to  the 
inference  that  he  was  probably  of  noble  birth. 

Historical  allusions  in  his  various  discourses  clearly  in- 
dicate that  Isaiah's  ministry  extended  throughout  fully 
thirty-five  years ;  Jewish  tradition  would  include  at  least 
fifteen  years  more.  In  the  present  lesson  only  those 
prophecies  which  can,  with  some  probability,  be  ascribed 
to  the  first  fifteen  years  of  the  public  ministry  are  in- 
cluded. From  these  it  may  be  learned  that  the  prophet 
was  married  and  had  two  sons  to  whom  names  were 
given  that  emphasized  the  prophet's  message  of  doom 
and  of  hope  for  a  remnant.  In  the  record  of  Isaiah's 
inaugural  vision  (ch.  6)  the  soul  experience  of  the 


ISAIAH  27 

prophet  is  wonderfully  revealed.  It  is  the  consciousness 
of  the  exaltation  of  Jehovah,  before  whom  the  shining 
ones  veil  their  faces  and  cry  "  Holy,  holy,"  and  of  the 
moral  debasement  of  the  people  that  leads  the  prophet  to 
cry  out  "Here  am  I;  send  me."  But  first,  the  vision 
of  God  had  brought  a  sense  of  his  own  uncleanness  and 
it  was  only  after  the  symbolic  coal  from  the  altar  had 
touched  and  purified  his  own  lips  that  he  was  ready  to 
become  a  messenger.  In  one  of  the  first  public  scenes  of 
Isaiah's  ministry,  he  appears  as  the  calm,  confident  ad- 
viser of  his  timorous,  faithless  monarch,  Ahaz.  Through- 
out the  great  political  crises  in  which  he  appears  again 
and  again,  striving  to  direct  rulers  and  people  in  a  course 
that  will  preserve  the  national  independence,  he  .is  seen 
always  as  a  balanced,  wise  statesman. 

Amos  strove  to  bring  to  repentance  a  prosperous  but  \ 
corrupt    people   whose   ultimate  doom   was   inevitable.  / 

The  Times     Hosea   beSan   nis   ministry   in    the   facev 
of  similar   conditions,  but   lived   to   see/ 
the    beginning    of   the  end   for   the   people  whom    he[ 
loved.     With   his   last   message   of  mingled   hope  and ) 
despair    the  voice  of  prophecy   became  silent  in   the 
fated    northern    kingdom.     Little  more  than  a   dozen 
years    later,    Israel    ceased   to   be   a   nation;    its   cap- 
ital was  destroyed  and  multitudes  of  its  people  were  de- 
ported by  the  Assyrian  monarch,  while  heathen  tribes, 
conquered  elsewhere,  were  in  time  settled  upon  the  fruit- 
ful hills  of  Ephraim. 

Hosea's  voice  was  hardly  hushed  when  the  torch  of 
true  prophecy  was  caught  up  by  Isaiah,  in  Jerusalem. 


28       PROPHETS  OF  THE  EIGHTH  CENTURY 

In  large  measure  through  his  influence,  the  southern 
kingdom  was  guided  through  the  dark  years  when  her 
sister  fell.  It  was  a  year  or  two  before  northern  Israel 
and  Syria  united  in  their  attack  upon  Judah  that  Isaiah 
dates  his  call  to  the  prophetic  office,  and  it  was  in  con- 
nection with  that  crisis  that  he  appeared  counseling 
Ahaz  to  trust  in  Jehovah  and  not  call  in  the  aid  of  As- 
syria. The  failure  of  Ahaz  to  heed  Isaiah  at  this  time 
led  directly  to  the  first  deportation  from  Israel  in  734 
B.  c.  and  to  the  Assyrian  suzerainty  over  Samaria  itself. 
The  other  great  national  crises  during  Isaiah's  ministry 
will  be  considered  in  the  next  study. 

Amos  had  preached  the  judgment  of  a  just  God  upon  ^ 
the  unjust.     Hosea  had  shown  the  dark  veil  of  separation 

The  between  a  loving  God  and  an  utterly  in-  v 

Message  sensible,  light  and  faithless  people.  In 
the  wonderful  first  chapter  of  Isaiah,  which  may  be  one 
of  his  earliest,  the  truth  of  both  Amos  and  Hosea  is  re- 
iterated with  the  brilliance  and  wealth  of  Jiteiary  and 
oratorical  power  jvvhich  v^^s~^^\2^  facile j^rinceps 
among  the  princely  orators  and  writers  of  Israel.  In  the 
next  four  chapters  we  have  sermons  that  may  still  ante- 
date the  crisis  of  734  and  which  contain  Isaiah's  own 
characteristic  teachings  of  the  wondrous  exaltation  of  the 
holy  God  of  Israel  and  of  a  gloriousj'uture  for  a  holy 
remnant  of  his  people  together_with  the  great  Reaching 
that  Israel's  religion  shall  spread  among  the  nations  and 
bring  in  universal  peace.  The  following  chapter  is  the 
record  of  the  inaugural  vision.  Other  messages  that 
may  be  assigned  to  the  earlier  years  of  ministry  show 


ISAIAH  29 

Isaiah  now  seeking  to  persuade  Ahaz  that  safety  lies  in  ^ 
Jehovah  and  not  in  help  from  Assyria ;  now  picturing  in 
mournful  lyric  utterance  the  coming  collapse  of  the 
northern  kingdom,  fruit  of  its  moral  and  social  disin- 
tegration ;  now  warning  Jerusalem  herself  that  she,  too, 
is  guilty. 

II.     ANALYSIS  OF  LESSON 

NOTE. — The  prophecies  of  Isaiah  are  not  arranged  in  chrono- 
logical order.  The  fact  that  the  inaugural  vision  is  not  at  the  be- 
ginning is  the  most  obvious  indication  of  this.  The  entire  book 
was  probably  a  gradual  compilation  in  which  various  influences 
determined  the  exact  order  of  the  addresses,  poems  and  narra- 
tives that  make  up  the  whole. 

The  portions  included  in  the  present  study  are : 

The  "  Great  Arraignment." — 1. 

Judgment  coming  upon  Judah,  yet  hope  for  the  Remnant  and 
for  Israel's  Religion. — 2-5. 

Inaugural  Vision. — 6. 

The  Syro-Ephraimitish  War  of  735-734. — 7-9:  7. 

The  Downfall  of  Ephraim.— 9 :  8 ;  10 :  4. 

The  Downfall  of  Syria  and  Ephraim. — 17  :  I— 1 1. 

Judah  Corrupt  like  Northern  Israel. — 28. 

Home  Readings. — The  above  analysis  will  furnish  a  helpful  out- 
line for  daily  reading  of  Scripture.  -  If  time  does  not  permit  the 
reading  of  the  entire  passages  the  following  selections  may  be 
made:  (i)  1;  (2)5:  1-24;  (3)6;  (4)7:  1-17;  (5)9:8-10:4; 
(6)  17:  i-n;(7)28. 

III.     POINTS  TO  BE  NOTED  IN  PREPARATION 

Time  of  Isaiah's  call  (6:  I);  Isaiah's  sons  (7:3;  8:  1-4);  in- 
fluence of  the  vision  of  the  exalted  God  (6 :  5)  ;  symbolic  purifica- 


3O       PROPHETS  OF  THE  EIGHTH  CENTURY 

tion  (6  :  6,  7) ;  the  prophetic  commission  (6:  8-10)  ;  Isaiah  and 
Ahaz  (7:  3-9;  2  Kings  16:  5-8);  the  first  deportation  from  Israel 
(2  Kings  15:  29)  ;  an  Amos  come  to  judgment  (I:  10-17);  an 
Hosea  pleading  (1:2-5);  Isaiah's  glorious  hope  (2:2-4); 
ground  of  Ephraim's  doom  (10:i-4)»  Jerusalem  guilty  like 
Ephraim  (28:  7,  14);  Isaiah's  doctrine  of  a  remnant  (4:  2-4; 
6:13;  7:3;  17:4-6;  28:5);  the  chief  attributes  of  Jehovah 
emphasized  by  Isaiah  (1:4;  2:  17;  5:  16;  6:  1-4). 

IV.     POINTS  FOR  REVIEW  IN.  CLASS 

Change  of  scene  of  prophetic  activity  after  Hosea ;  length  of 
Isaiah's  ministry ;  the  twofold  message  in  names  of  Isaiah's  sons  ; 
the  motive  that  led  Isaiah  to  his  prophetic  ministry ;  his  sense  of 
unworthiness  and  its  removal ;  the  contrast  in  the  national  policy 
of  Isaiah  and  Ahaz  and  the  reason  for  the  difference ;  the  direct 
result  of  Ahaz's  calling  on  Assyria  for  help  ;  Isaiah's  expectation 
as  to  the  future  of  the  religion  of  Jehovah  and  its  influence  in  the 
world;  Isaiah's  view  as  to  the  moral  condition  of  Israel  and 
Judah ;  his  doctrine  of  a  remnant ;  the  chief  attributes  of  Jehovah 
as  revealed  by  Isaiah ;  do  the  teachings  of  Amos,  Hosea  and  Isaiah 
when  combined  give  all  the  essential  attributes  of  the  Christian 
conception  of  God  ?  is  there  anything  more  fundamental  and  vital 
in  the  religion  of  ancient  prophet  or  modern  Christian  than  one's 
conception  of  the  nature  of  God  ?  does  Isaiah's  prophetic  call  con- 
tain any  essential  motives  that  may  not  be  just  as  real  for  a  Chris- 
tian worker  to-day  ?  do  Amos,  Hosea  and  Isaiah  lay  much  stress 
upon  religious  forms  as  essential  in  a  life  conformed  to  Jehovah's 
will  ?  upon  what  do  they  lay  the  most  stress  ?  did  the  conditions 
of  their  age  lead  to  a  one-sided  teaching  as  to  God's  will  that  needs 
supplementing  in  other  times,  e.  g.,  our  own  day? 


ISAIAH  31 

LESSON  V 

ISAIAH  1-39  (Later  Ministry) 

Suggestions  for  Review. — Time  and  place  of  Isaiah's  ministry; 
his  call  to  the  prophetic  office ;  the  first  great  national  crisis  in 
which  Isaiah  advised  the  king;  some  of  Isaiah's  characteristic 
teachings. 

I.     THE  PROPHET  AND  His  WORK 
The  calm  trust  of  Isaiah  in  the  God  of  Israel,  that 
shone  in  such  strong  contrast  to  the  attitude  of  Ahaz 

when  that  king  called  in  the  aid  of  As- 
The  Man 

syria,  appeared  even  more  conspicuously 

in  later  crises.  The  prophet  ever  protested  against  seek- 
ing help  in  foreign  alliance,  as  Elijah  had  done  in  the 
preceding  century.  In  the  days  of  Ahaz  he  denounced 
alliance  with  Assyria  for  defense  against  Israel *and  Syria ; 
after  these  nations  had  fallen,  he  opposed  alliance  with 
Egypt  for  defense  against  Assyria.  Trust  in  the  Qod  of 
Israel  for  protection  and  keep  free  from  enfanglrng  alli- 
ances was  the  national  policy  of  Isaiah ;  yet  when  coali-* 
tion  had  been  made  with  Egypt  and  had  brought  Jeru- 
salem to  the  verge  of  ruin,  Isaiah  alone  was  confident, 
resting  in  perfect  assurance  that  Jehovah  would  fight  as 
a  lion  against  the  foe,  and  hover  as  a  bird  with  protecting 
wings  above  his  city. 

The  prophet  used  every  possible  means  to  impress  his 
convictions  upon  his  countrymen.  Now  he  begins  a  lilt- 
ing song  of  love  that  soon  proves  a  parable  of  judgment 
(5  :  1-7),  or  again,  he  hymns  a  solemn  dirge  "  for  the 


32  PROPHETS  OF  THE  EIGHTH  CENTURY 

destruction  of  the  daughter  of  my  people"  (22:  1-14). 
His  sermons  are  resplendent  with  wonderful  imagery, 
but  some  in  Jerusalem  are  deaf  to  *song  and  sermon. 
For  such  his  sons  are  made  perpetual  prophecies  by  the 
significant  names  given  them,  or  the  great  prophet  him- 
self condescends  to  become  a  visible  message,  going 
about  for  three  years  in  the  garb  of  a  slave  to  declare  the 
coming  captivity  of  Egypt  (20).  In  the  nineteenth  chap- 
ter, however,  the  breadth  of  this  prophet's  outlook  is 
seen  in  his  picturing  of  the  despised  ally,  Egypt,  and  the 
dreaded  scourge,  Assyria,  as  future  worshipers  with  Israel. 
The  prevision  of  Amos,  Hosea  and  Isaiah  was  fulfilled 
in  the  complete  downfall  of  northern  Israel  (721  B.  c.). 
The  fate  of  the  larger  portion  of  ancient 
Israel  must  have  shaken  the  little  southern 
kingdom  from  center  to  circumference.  Two  years  later, 
the  Assyrian  armies  marched  past  the  foot  of  Judah's 
hills  and  defeated  the  Egyptians  in  a  battle  on  the  bor- 
ders-of  their  land.  Some  nine  years  later  the  Philistine 
.  town  of  Ashdod  revolted  from  Assyria,  only  to  be  speedily 
subdued.  It  was  at  this  time  that  Isaiah  gave  his  object- 
lesson  to  convince  the  people  that  Egypt,  which  was  con- 
stantly fomenting  rebellions  in  Palestine,  would  herself  be 
utterly  overcome  by  Assyria.  On  this  expedition  the 
Assyrian  king  accepted  presents  from  Judah,  Edom  and 
Moab.  With  the  death  of  the  dreaded  conqueror,  six 
years  later,  revolts  broke  out  and  the  regions  of  Palestine 
were  roused  to  throw  off  the  yoke.  Isaiah  was  powerless 
to  prevent  Judah  from  joining  her  neighbors.  The  new 
Assyrian  king  was,  at  first,  fully  occupied  with  quelling 


ISAIAH  33 

revolts  in  the  eastern  parts  of  his  vast  domains.  At  last 
he  was  free  to  turn  his  attention  to  the  western  regions 
and  was  soon  victorious  almost  to  the  borders  of  Egypt. 
Judaea  was  devastated  and  multitudes  of  captives  were 
carried  off.  Jerusalem  stood  only  until  the  main  force 
of  the  Assyrians  might  undertake  its  regular  siege,  when, 
suddenly,  destruction  came  upon  the  Assyrian  hosts. 
The  Biblical  historian  tells  us  that  the  angel  of  the  Lord 
went  forth  and  smote  in  the  camp  of  the  Assyrians  a 
hundred  fourscore  and  five  thousand.  ...  So 
Sennacherib,  king  of  Assyria,  departed  and  went  and 
returned  and  dwelt  at  Nineveh.  An  obscure  statement 
in  Herodotus  (II,  141)  has  led  many  to  believe  that  the 
instrument  of  destruction  was  a  pestilence  breaking  out 
in  the  army  as  it  lay  in  the  swampy  district  at  the  border 
of  Egypt. 

Isaiah  was  keenly  alive  to  the  great  movements  of  em- 
pires which  characterized  his  age.  In  the  midst  of  these 

Th  he  sought  to  guide  the  kingdom  of  Judah 

in  the  safest  course.  With  his  eye  fixed 
thus  upon  the  affairs  of  the  great  contending  empires  of 
Egypt  and  Assyria  or  upon  the  plots  and  counterplots  of 
Judah's  more  immediate  neighbors,  his  heart  and  mes- 
sage centered  on  Judah  and  her  religion.  To  his  enlight- 
ened vision  Jehovah  was  the  God  of  nations*  who  might 
use  proud  Assyria  for  the  rod  of  his  anger,  but  before 
whom  Assyria  and  Egypt  alike  would  finally  come  to 
worship.  The  teaching  that^a  remnant  of  the  people 
would  be  spared  from  Jehovah's  judgment  is  reiterated  in 
Isaiah1  s  later  preaching,  but  in  his  various  prophecies 


34  PROPHETS  OF  THE  EIGHTH  CENTURY 

that  seem  to  center  about  the  years  702-1,  the  teaching 
that  the  sacred  city  itself  would  be  spared  is  more  pom  - 
inent.  "  lrhe  pictures  of  the  remote  and  ideal  future  given 
at  this  time  of  incompetent  rule  and  of  war,  present  the 
figure  of  a  prince  of  the  house^  of  David  ujxm  whom 
the  spirit  of  the  Lord  shall  rest,  the  spirit  of  wis^Qm  and 
understanding  th,e  spirit  of  cppn^el  and  m^ht,  and  hope 
for  an  a^ejvjiejij:h£work  of  righteousness  shall  be  peace. 

II.     ANALYSIS  OF  LESSON 

The  portions  of  Isaiah  1-39  included  in  the  present  study  are : 
The  Assyrian  scourge ;  its  destruction. 

A  Reign  of  Peace.— 10 :  5-!! :  9. 
Coming  Overthrow  of  Assyrian  Army. — 14  :  24-27. 
Philistia  to  be  Destroyed  by  Assyria. — 14 :  28-32. 
A  Fragment,  referring,  probably,  to  Assyria. — 17:  12—14. 
Ethiopia  seeks  Alliance. — 18. 
Egypt's   coming   Humiliation,   Ultimate   Union   of  Egypt  and 

Assyria  in  Worship  with  Judah. — 19. 
Coming  Captivity  of  Egypt  and  Ethiopia. — 20^ 
Oracles  concerning  Edom  and  Arabia. — 21 :  11-17. 
Lament  over  Conduct  of  Citizens  of  Jerusalem. — 22:  1-14. 
Rebuke  of  Shebna,  the  treasurer. — 22:  15-25. 
Coming  Fall  of  Tyre,  Ultimate  Worship  of  Jehovah. — 23. 
Coming  Siege  and  Deliverance,      Futility  of  Aid  from  Egypt, 

Future  Age  of  Righteousness  and  Peace 29-32. 

Speedy  Deliverance  from  Assyria. — 33. 

NOTE. — The  above  sections,  together  with  those  given  in  the 
preceding  study,  include  practically  all  the  material  of  which  the 
original  authorship  can  with  much  confidence  be  ascribed  to 
Isaiah.  Chapters  36-39  give  an  account  of  the  crisis  of  701 
almost  identical  with  2  Kings  18:  13-20:  19. 


ISAIAH  35 

Home  Readings. — The  following  selections  are  made  from  the 
above  passages  as  giving  typical  examples  of  Isaiah's  work  and 
teaching  after  722  B.  c. :  (i)  10:5-34;  (2)  11:1-9;  (3) 
14:24-27;  17:  12-14;  (4)  19;  (5)  22:15-25;  (6)30;  (7) 
32:  1-8;  15-18. 

III.     POINTS  TO  BE  NOTED  IN  PREPARATION 

Isaiah's  attitude  toward  foreign  alliance  (20 :  4-6 ;  30 :  1-7, 
15-17;  31:  1-6,  cf.  interview  with  Ahaz  7);  Isaiah's  resources 
in  teaching — lyric  poems  (5:  1-7  ;  22  :  1-14),  figures  and  illustra- 
tions (1:  3,5,8,9,  18;  3:4,  155  5:  24;  11:6-9;  17:6;  29:  8; 
31:  4,  5;  32:  2,  etc.),  symbolic  acts  (20),  pleading  (1:  18),  stern 
rebuke  (1 :  10-17  ;  5 :  8,  etc.)  ;  catholicity  of  hope  (19 :  23-25) ;  the 
great  deliverance  of  701  (37:33-38);  inviolability  of  Zion 
(10:24-34;  14:24-27,  32;  29:  1-8;  31:4,5);  the  ideal  prince 
(11:  1-9;  32:  1-8);  future  of  peace  (32:  15-18). 

IV.     POINTS  FOR  REVIEW  IN  CLASS 

Isaiah's  foreign  policy ;  the  source  of  the  prophet's  confidence  in 
national  crises  ;  Isaiah's  resources  as  a  teacher  and  preacher ;  the 
universality  of  his  hope ;  the  struggle  of  empires  in  Isaiah's  day ; 
the  fate  of  Sennacherib's  hosts  in  701  B.C.;  Isaiah's  faith  as  to 
Jerusalem ;  features  of  Isaiah's  hope  for  Israel's  future ;  elements 
of  the  gospel  message  in  Isaiah  1-39;  Isaiah  as  a  man  of  his 
times ;  lessons  for  all  times  in  Isaiah's  teaching  on  patriotism,  in  his 
faith,  breadth  of  view,  hope. 


36       PROPHETS  OF  THE  EIGHTH  CENTURY 

LESSON  VI       J 
niCAH 

Suggestions  for  Review. — Great  national  events  in  last  twenty 
years  of  Isaiah's  ministry  ;  Isaiah's  political  activity ;  Isaiah's  gifts 
as  a  teacher ;  Isaiah's  most  striking  personal  characteristics. 

I.     THE  PROPHET  AND  His  WORK 

Micah  is  commonly  spoken  of  as  a  "  younger  con- 
temporary of  Isaiah. ? '  He  seems  to  have  begun  his  preach- 
ing at  about  the  time  of  the  fall  of  Samaria, 
the  capital  of  northern  Israel.  Jeremiah 
quotes  Micah  (3  :  12)  and  regards  this  message  as  the  imme- 
diate cause  of  Hezekiah's  reform.  As  this  reform  must 
have  occurred  some  years  after  the  fall  of  Samaria,  it 
seems  pretty  clear  that  Micah' s  ministry  lasted  for  a 
number  of  years.  It  is  generally  agreed,  further,  that 
the  last  two  chapters  cannot  be  earlier  than  the  reign  of 
Manasseh.  Hence,  if  they  are  the  work  of  Micah  at  all, 
his  ministry  must  have  extended  well  into  the  seventh 
century.  Isaiah  and  Micah  give  us  two  most  interesting 
supplementary  views  of  the  closing  decades  of  the  eighth 
century.  In  the  one,  the  age  is  seen  from  the  point  of  view/ft* 
of  the  capital  and  international  relations  are  prominent ;  in 
the  other,  the  view- point  is  that  of  the  outlying  rural 
districts  where  the  high  politics  of  the  capital  make  little 
direct  impression.  The  gross  oppression  by  the  upper 
classes,  the  perversion  of  justice  through  bribery,  and  the 


MICAH  37 

corruption  of  religion  are  seen  from  beneath  where  they 
grind   the   common   people.     Micah,    living   in  a  little 
town,  on  the  border  between  Judaea  and  Philistia,  speaks 
as  representative  of  the  common  people,  while  Isaiah^ 
attacks  the  vices  of  his  age  from  the  social  level  of  the/ 
rich  and  oppressive  rulers. 

Isaiah  did  not  hesitate  to  picture  with  all  the  power  of 
his  brilliant  rhetoric  the  pride  and  luxury  of  the  wealthy 

whom  he  saw  in  Jerusalem,  but  it  is  from 
The  Times  .    •  ' 

Micah  that  we  learn  how  the  oppression 

by  the  rich  really  affected  the  poor.  To  him,  it  seemed 
that  the  rulers  plucked  the  skin  from  off  the  people  and 
their  flesh  from  off  their  bones.  He  accuses  the  heads  of 
Jerusalem  of  judging  for  reward  and  the  priests  of  teach- 
ing for  hire  and  the  prophets  of  divining  for  money.  He 
sees  the  land  full  of  divination,  sorcery  and  idolatry, 
and  yet  the  people  are  confident  that  Jehovah  is  in  their 
midst  as  were  the  inhabitants  of  the  sister  kingdom  in 
Amos'  day. 

The  closing  chapters  of  the  book,  like  the  later  sermons 
of  Hosea  in  northern  Israel,  show  a  desperate  condition 
of  the  nation ;  oppression,  persecution  and  corruption  of 
justice  are  crowned  by  a  very  dissolution  of  the  ties  of 
society;  friendship,  wedded  and  filial  love  are  hardly 
known — "all  lie  in  wait  for  blood ;  they  hunt  every  man 
his  brother  with  a  net/' 

The  word  of  Micah  is  one  of  judgment  upon 
Samaria  and  Judah  because  of  the  vices  of  rulers,  priests 

and  prophets.     Zion,  for  their  sake,  shall 
The  Message    ,  £  ' 

be    plowed    as  a  field,    yea,    the  sacred 


38  PROPHETS  OF  THE  EIGHTH  CENTURY 

city  shall  become  heaps.  In  the  earlier  part  of  the 
prophecy  the  avowed  purpose  is  to  "declare  unto 
Jacob  his  transgression,  and  to  Israel  his  sin."  The 
message  was  so  effective  that,  a  century  later,  it  was 
recalled  as  an  example  of  the  right  influence  of  a  prophet 
upon  a  ruler.  The  message  of  doom  is  followed  in 
chapters  4  and  5  by  pictures  of  the  establishment  of 
Zion  in  peace,  the  coming  of  a  ruler  who  shall  be  the 
peace  of  Israel  when  the  Assyrian  shall  come  into  the 
land,  and  the  destruction  of  worship  in  the  high  places. 
In  chapter  6,  there  is  given  a  wonderful  summary  of  the 
combined  teaching  of  Amos,  Hosea  and  Isaiah  regard- 
ing the  life  demanded  by  the  God  of  Israel  and  the  com- 
parative worthlessness  of  sacrifice— "What  doth  Jehovah 
require  of  thee,  but  to  do  justly,  and  to  love  kindness, 
and  to  walk  humbly  with  thy  God  ?  " 


II.     ANALYSIS  OF  LESSON 

Title.— 1 :  I. 

Doom  of  Samaria  and  Jerusalem. — 1 :  2-3. 

Advent  of  Jehovah  in  judgment. — 1 :  2-16. 

Rebellion  against  Jehovah. — 2:  i-ii. 

(Disconnected  expression  of  hope). — 2:  12,  13. 

Sins  of  rulers,  priests  and  prophets. — 3. 
Hope  for  Future. — 4,  5. 

Restoration  of  Zion. — 4 :  i-8. 

Future  triumph  over  enemies. — 4  :  9-5  :  I. 

Coming  age  of  peace  and  true  worship. — 5:  2-15. 
Dramatic  Presentation  of  Israel's  Relations  to  Jehovah. — 6,  7. 

The  case  of  Jehovah  against  Israel. — 6  :  1-7 :  6. 

Israel  and  the  prophet. — 7 :  7-20. 


MICAH  39 

Home  Readings. — With  the  above  analysis  in  mind,  the  little  book 
of  Micah  should  be  read  in  its  entirety.  It  may  be  apportioned  to 
the  days  of  the  week,  as  follows:  (i)  1;  (2)  2;  (3)  3;  (4) 
4:  1-5:  I;  (5)5:  2-15;  (6)  6:  1-7:6;  (7)7:7-20. 

III.     POINTS  TO  BE  NOTED  IN  PREPARATION 

Date  of  Micah's  preaching  (1:6;  3:  12;  cf.  Jer.  26:  17,  18; 
6:  10,  n,  16;  7:  2,  3,  5,  6  thought  to  show  the  effects  of  "cold 
biting  wind  which  King  Manasseh  brought  over  Judah  "  cf.  2 
Kings  21:  1-9);  home  of  Micah  (1:  I,  14),  (1:  10-14  places 
named  seem  to  be  on  borderland  of  Judaea  and  Philistia) ;  oppres- 
sion by  rich  and  powerful  (2:2;  3:  1-3,  10)  ;  bribery  (3:9,  n) ; 
priests  and  prophets  mercenary  (3:5,  II);  heathenish  sorceries 
(3:7;  5:12);  idolatry  (5:  13,  14);  false  confidence  (3:ii); 
judgment  on  Samaria  (1:  6,  7);  on  Jerusalem  (3:  12);  effect  of 
Micah's  message  (Jer.  26  :  17-19) ;  coming  reign  of  peace  (4:  3,  4; 
5:2-5);  future  .destruction  of  heathen  practices  (5:  12-14); 
Jehovah's  requirements  (6  :  6-8). 

IV.     POINTS  FOR  REVIEW  IN  CLASS 

Date  of  Micah  relative  to  Isaiah  ;  earliest  possible  date  for  chs. 
6,  7  ;  difference  in  point  of  view  of  Isaiah  and  Micah  ;  different 
classes  whose  conduct  is  attacked  by  Micah  ;  characteristic  sins  of 
each  class  ;  false  confidence  of  Judah  pictured  by  Micah,  compared 
with  that  of  Israel  in  Amos'  day;  dark  elements  of  picture  in 
chs.  6,  7 ;  Micah's  expectation  for  the  future  of  Samaria  and  Jeru- 
salem in  chs.  1-3 ;  outlook  for  the  future  in  chs.  4,  5 ;  tradition 
of  Micah's  influence  a  century  after  his  ministry  ;  the  idea  of  God's 
requirements  taught  by  Amos,  by  Hosea,  by  Isaiah ;  the  combina- 
tion of  these  in  Micah  6 ;  the  conception  of  God  the  determin- 
ing principle  in  a  prophet's  message ;  Micah's  practical  lessons 
for  our  day ;  morality  versus  ritual  in  the  prophets  of  the  eighth 
century ;  elements  of  a  spiritual  religion  taught  by  these  prophets. 


4O      PROPHETS  OF  THE  SEVENTH  CENTURY 


II.    Prophets  of  the  Seventh  Century 


LESSON  VII 
ZEPHANIAH 

Suggestions  for  Review. — Time  and  place  of  Micah's  ministry ; 
social  conditions  of  Judah  as  seen  by  Micah ;  judgments  threatened 
by  Micah ;  hope  for  future  ;  the  threefold  demand  of  Jehovah. 

I.     THE  PROPHET  AND  His  WORK 

The  latter  half  of  the  eighth  century  B.  c.  must  ever 
remain  memorable  as  the  era  of  the  great  ethical  proph- 
Th  M  etSj  f°rmat*ve  spirits  in  the  religion  of 
Israel,  who  revealed  the  requirements  of 
a  God  of  justice,  mercy  and  holiness,  who  saw  both  the 
social  life  of  their  age  and  the  strife  of  contending  nations 
in  the  pure,  white  light  of  the  righteous  God  of  nations. 
Many  providential  forces  united  to  produce  these  states- 
men-preachers, but  the  most  obvious  of  the  external 
influences  are  the  corruption  of  their  own  people  and  the 
movements  of  the  nations  in  which  they  saw  the  working 
out  of  divine  judgment. 

It  is  the  latter  half,  almost  the  last  quarter  of  the  next 
century,  before  the  voice  of  prophecy  again  breaks  on 
the  ear.  Then  we  find  another  group  of  four  raising  the 
old  trumpet  cry  with  some  new  tones,  unheard  by  the 
earlier  age.  The  first  of  these,  it  would  seem,  was 
Zephaniah,  The  name  means  "whom  Jehovah  hides" 


ZEPHANIAH  41 

and  suggests  that  the  child  may  have  been  born  in  the 
terrible  days  of  Manasseh's  reign,  when  those  who  were 
loyal  to  the  God  of  Israel  needed  to  be  hidden  from  the 
persecution  of  the  dominant  heathen  party.  The  proph- 
et's ancestry  is  traced  back  for  four  generations  to  Heze- 
kiah.  Slight  indications  lead  to  the  inference  that  this 
Hezekiah  was  the  king  who  had  hearkened  to  Isaiah 
and  Micah  and  had  instituted  a  reform  in  Israel's  wor- 
ship. If  this  be  the  case,  and  if  Zephaniah  uttered 
his  first  prophetic  message  about  the  year  626,  he  must 
have  been  a  young  man  connected  with  the  royal  line  of 
the  young  reigning  king,  Josiah.  The  intensity  of  the 
prophet's  message  accords  well  with  this  inference  as  to 
his  age. 

The  generations  from  Hezekiah  to  Josiah  and  Zephaniah 
were  a  dark  period  for  the  religion  of  Jehovah. 
Manasseh's  half-century  of  rule  was  a 
time  of  great  reaction  from  the  partial  re- 
form under  Hezekiah.  Assyria  was  politically  domi- 
nant over  Judah,  which  paid  tribute  of  money  and  tribute 
of  servile  imitation,  introducing  every  foreign  fashion  of 
heathen  worship.  Amon,  unworthy  son  of  unworthy 
father,  was  cut  off  after  two  years  of  rule  ;  then  the  peo- 
ple rose,  put  to  death  the  conspirators  and  made  Amon's 
young  son,  Josiah,  king.  Before  the  year  626  the  boy  of 
eight  had  reached  the  full  age  of  manhood  and  had  be- 
come the  actual  head  of  the  nation.  The  heavy  hand 
of  Assyria  had  now  been  withdrawn,  or  had  come  to 
rest  very  lightly  upon  Judah,  for  that  blood-stained 
monarchy  was  ready  to  totter  to  its  fall.  The  face  of  all 


42      PROPHETS  OF  THE  SEVENTH  CENTURY 

southwestern  Asia  to  the  borders  of  Egypt  was  being 
swept  by  hordes  of  Scythian  invaders  from  beyond  the 
Caucasus.  Into  Palestine,  across  the  ^lain  of  Esdraelon, 
over  the  passes  of  Carmel,  and  through  the  Philistine  ter- 
ritory, they  passed  on  toward  Egypt.  Thence  they  were 
turned  back,  we  read,  by  the  force  of  rich  presents  from 
the  Pharaoh.  The  hills  of  Judaea  protected  their  inhabit- 
ants from  this  invasion  of  horsemen ;  but  the  devasta- 
tion that  they  left  in  the  neighboring  lowlands  must  have 
deeply  affected  the  heart  of  the  nation.  Zephaniah' s 
language  probably  reflects  the  impression  produced.  It 
would  seem,  indeed,  that  this  awe-inspiring  invasion 
formed,  in  part,  the  immediate  occasion  for  unsealing  the 
lips  of  prophecy,  as  the  terrible  advance  of  Assyria  had 
done  in  the  previous  century.  The  other  condition  of 
the  earlier  century  was  present,  too,  and  was  certainly  in- 
fluential in  leading  Zephaniah  to  utter  his  warning  cry. 
The  remnant  of  Baal  and  those  that  worshiped  the  host 
of  heaven  upon  the  housetops  had  not  yet  been  swept 
away  by  the  great  reform  instituted  later  in  Josiah's  reign. 
There  were  those  in  Judah  who  had  turned  back  from 
following  Jehovah,  and  those  who  had  not  sought  him. 
A  fatal  indifference  had  settled  upon  the  citizens  of 
Jerusalem,  who  had  concluded  that  Jehovah  would 
neither  do  good  nor  do  evil.  Jerusalem  was  rebellious 
and  corrupt.  Her  princes  in  the  midst  of  her  were  roar- 
ing lions ;  her  judges  were  evening  wolves  ;  her  prophets 
were  light  and  treacherous ;  her  priests  had  profaned  the 
sanctuary. 

The  prophecy  of  Zephaniah  opens  with  the  threat  that 


2EPHANIAH  43 

Jehovah  will  consume  all  things  from  off  the  face  of  the 
T      ..  earth,   man  and  beast  alike.     The  day  of 

the  Lord  is  at  hand,  a  day  of  judgment 
when  those  who  have  introduced  the  customs  of  heathen 
nations  into  Judah  shall  be  punished,  and  those  who  are 
indifferent  to  Jehovah  shall  be  searched  out.  The  threat 
of  Amos  that  those  who  build  houses  shall  not  dwell  in 
them  and  those  who  plant  vineyards  shall  not  eat  their 
fruit  is  reiterated.  The  second  chapter  is  a  doom- song 
upon  the  nations,  followed  in  the  opening  of  the  third  by 
the  doom  of  polluted  Jerusalem.  This  leads  on  to  a 
rather  somber  picture  of  hope  when  the  remnant,  poor 
and  afflicted,  shall  not  do  iniquity,  nor  speak  lies,  and 
shall  dwell  in  security. 

The  book  closes  with  a  joyous  song  of  triumph,  much  in 
the  spirit  of  those  that  are  connected  with  the  end  of  the 
Babylonian  exile.  It  is  very  commonly  held  that  this  song 
was  composed  at  that  time,  when  Zephaniah's  expectation 
had  at  last  been  fulfilled  and  a  remnant  had  survived, 
an  afflicted  and  poor  people,  but  trusting  now  in  Jehovah 
alone. 

II.     ANALYSIS  OF  LESSON 

Title.— 1 :  I. 

The  Day  of  the  Lord  upon  Judah. — 1 :  2-18. 

The  Day  of  the  Lord  upon  the  Nations  and  Judah. — 2 :  1-3 : 8. 

The  Purified  Remnant. — 8:9-13. 

Jehovah  in  the  Midst  of  Zion  (a  lyric). — 3  :  14-20. 

Home  Readings.— (i)  1;  (2)  2;  (3)  3:  1-8;  (4)  3:  9-13;  (5) 
3:  14-20;  (6)  2  Kings  21;  (7)  2  Kings  23:  1-14. 


44      PROPHETS  OF  THE  SEVENTH  CENTURV 

III.     POINTS  TO  BE  NOTED  IN  PREPARATION 

Character  of  Manasseh's  reign  (2  Kings  2L:  1-9) ;  Zephaniah's 
ancestry  (1:  I);  possible  reflections  of  Scythian  invasion  in 
Zephaniah's  pictures  (1 :  2,  3,  70,  13,  16,  170) ;  religious  condition 
of  Judah,  (1:  4-6,  12;  3:  2,4);  civil  corruption  (8:3);  foreign 
customs  (1:8);  the  day  of  the  Lord,  a  day  of  wrath  (1:7, 
14-16);  hope  for  the  remnant  (3:  12,  13);  the  restored  exiles 
(3:  15-17,20). 

IV.     POINTS  FOR  REVIEW  IN  CLASS 

Influences  that  called  forth  prophets  of  eighth  century ;  partial 
reproduction  of  conditions  in  seventh  century ;  significance  of 
name  Zephaniah ;  Zephaniah's  probable  descent ;  religious  con- 
dition of  Judah  in  years  intervening  between  eighth  and  seventh 
century  prophets ;  political  status  of  Judah  in  Manasseh's  reign ; 
condition  of  Assyria  when  Zephaniah  began  mission ;  the  social 
and  religious  condition  of  Judah  in  early  years  of  Josiah  as  seen  by 
Zephaniah ;  the  day  of  the  Lord  as  pictured  in  Zephaniah ;  the 
hope  of  Zephaniah  for  the  doomed  people ;  probable  occasion  of 
the  song  at  close  of  prophecy  of  Zephaniah ;  attitude  of  Zephaniah 
the  reformer  toward  those  who  are  "  settled  on  their  lees " ; 
which  class  is  more  dangerous  to  efforts  for  moral  reforms  to-day, 
those  who  are  hostile  or  those  who  are  characterized  in  Zeph. 
1:  12?  the  essence  of  the  ideal  of  true  blessedness  presented  in 
3:  16,  17. 


JEREMIAH      .•  45 

LESSON  VIII 
JEREfllAH  (First  Period) 

Suggestions  for  Review. — Interval  between  eighth  and  seventh 
century  prophets ;  religious  and  political  condition  of  Judah  when 
Zephaniah  began  his  work;  the  leading  ideas  of  Zephaniah's 
preaching,  as  to  the  day  of  the  Lord,  chief  sins  of  people,  future 
of  people. 

I.  THE  PROPHET  AND  His  WORK 
The  prophet  Jeremiah  inevitably  reminds  one  of  Hosea. 
Both  were  men  of  intensely  emotional  natures,  deeply 
sensitive  and  sympathetic,  so  that  their 
personal  sorrows  led  them  into  realms  of 
spiritual  insight,  hitherto  unknown  even  in  the  teachers 
of  Israel.  More  is  known  of  the  facts  of  Jeremiah's  life 
than  is  the  case  with  any  other  prophet.  He  sprang 
from  the  company  of  priests  settled  at  Anathoth,  a  village 
hardly  more  than  an  hour's  walk  to  the  northeast  of 
Jerusalem,  located  on  the  eastern  edge  of  the  central 
range  from  which  the  barren  hills  that  broke  down  to  the 
north  end  of  the  Dead  Sea  constituted  the  prospect. 
Jeremiah's  full  consciousness  of  his  prophetic  mission 
first  came  in  the  thirteenth  year  of  Josiah's  reign  (626 
B.  c.).  The  opening  of  his  ministry  was  thus  almost 
coincident  with  that  of  Zephaniah.  At  this  time  he 
seems  to  have  regarded  himself  as  too  young  to  under- 
take the  work  to  which  he  felt  himself  set  apart.  This 
circumstance,  together  with  the  fact  that  he  was  still 
active  as  a  prophet  more  than  forty  years  later,  indicates 


46      PROPHETS  OF  THE  SEVENTH  CENTURY 

that  he  was  a  very  young  man  at  the  time  of  his  call.  It 
is  probable  that  both  he  and  Zephaniah  were  of  almost 
the  same  age  as  the  youthful  king  who  was  now  about 
twenty-one  years  old. 

The  prophetic  activity  of  Jeremiah  falls  most  naturally 
into  three  periods,  which  may  be  designated  by  the  names 
of  the  three  rulers,  J^si^h;  Jehoiakim  and  Zedekiah. 

The  first  period  of  Jeremiah's  ministry  includes  some 
eighteen  years,  nearly  half  of  the  prophet's  career.  Of 

Th  Ti  ^e  tnree  hundred  and  fifty  years  of 

Judah's  history  from  the  division  of  the 
kingdom  under  Rehoboam  to  the  Babylonian  exile,  this 
was,  perhaps,  the  happiest  period.  The  Scythian  in- 
vasion that  swept  the  coast  plains  left  few  if  any  scars 
upon  the  hills  of  Judah.  The  last  important  reign  in 
Assyria  closed  at  about  the  beginning  of  Jeremiah's 
ministry,  so  that  her  heavy  tribute  was  removed  from 
southwestern  Asia.  The  neighboring  tribes  of  Palestine 
had  been  so  devastated  that  Judah  was  left  the  strongest 
state  of  the  region.  In  these  conditions,  Josiah  spread 
his  dominion  northward  over  no  small  part  of  the  ancient 
territory  of  Israel.  The  religious  glory  of  Josiah's  reign, 
however,  far  surpassed  any  possible  political  renown. 
This  was  the  era  of  the  great  Deuteronomic  reform  when, 
for  the  first  time,  the  law  of  the  central  sanctuary,  so 
prominent  in  Deuteronomy,  was  dominant  and  the  an- 
cient high  places,  always  tainted  with  heathenish,  sensual 
practices  were  thoroughly  devastated.  It  is  highly  prob- 
able that  Zephaniah  and  Jeremiah,  with  all  the  ardor  of 
youthful  reformers,  were,  in  sympathy  with  such  faithful 


JEREMIAH  47 

priests  as  Hilkiah,  influential  in  bringing  about  that  turn- 
ing to  Jehovah  which  led  to  the  restoration  of  the  sadly 
desecrated  temple.  In  the  course  of  this  work,  the  book 
of  the  law  was  brought  to  light  and  read  to  the  king. 
As  a  consequence,  the  great  reformation,  carrying  out  in 
detail  the  lofty  requirements  of  the  Deuteronomic  law, 
was  instituted  under  the  personal  direction  of  King 
Josiah.  This  was  in  the  eighteenth  year  of  the  young 
king's  reign  (621  B.  c.),  some  five  years  after  the  begin- 
ning of  Jeremiah's  ministry.  While  the  keenly  sensitive 
and  deeply  spiritual  Jeremiah  may  have  felt  the  super- 
ficial character  of  any  religious  reformation  carried  out 
by  royal  authority,  on  the  whole  the  period  must  have 
been  a  happy  one  for  the  prophet.  This  period  termi- 
nated in  the  sad  tragedy  of  the  king's  death,  when  he 
went  forth  to  dispute  the  passage  of  Pharaoh  Hophra 
across  Palestine.  Assyria  was  about  to  be  dismembered 
by  the  Medes  and  Babylonians,  and  Pharaoh  was  seeking 
to  share  the  prey.  The  rash  attempt  of  Josiah  to  prevent 
the  Pharaoh's  passage  cost  the  good  king  his  life  and 
marked  the  close  of  Judah's  political  independence. 

A  few  years  after  the  death  of  Josiah,  Jeremiah  com- 
mitted to  writing  the  substance  of  his  earlier  preaching. 
The  This    first   roll   was   destroyed   by   King 

Message  Jehoiakim,  and  when  Jeremiah  rewrote  he 
added  other  matter.  The  present  book  of  Jeremiah 
clearly  combines  with  these  earlier  utterances  much  that 
comes  from  still  later  years  in  the  prophet's  ministry,  be- 
sides material,  chiefly  historical  and  biographical,  that 
was  written  by  other  hands.  A  comparatively  small 


48      PROPHETS  OF  THE  SEVENTH  CENTURY 

part  of  the  present  book  gives  evidence  of  belonging  to 
the  first  period  of  the  ministry.  Chapters  2-6  may  well 
be  regarded  as  presenting  Jeremiah's  brief  condensation 
of  much  of  his  preaching  during  those  earlier  years. 
Chapter  i  is  the  account  of  the  prophet's  call  and  n  : 
1-8  has,  with  plausibility,  been  connected  with  the  reform 
of  621. 

The  account  of  the  inaugural  vision  contains  the 
prophet's  commission  over  the  nation  to  pluck  up,  break 
down,  build  and  plant,  and  the  message  of  divine  judg- 
ment upon  Judah  for  her  idolatry.  The  nations  of  the 
north  are  pictured  as  the  instrument  of  this  judgment. 
The  following  chapter  suggests  instantly  Hosea's  figure 
of  Israel  as  the  bride  of  Jehovah  and  his  picture  of  her 
early  devotion,  followed  by  ingratitude  and  unfaithful- 
ness. It  includes  also  Hosea's  charge  that  help  had 
been  sought  from  Egypt  and  Assyria.  Idolatry  is  at- 
tacked again  and  again,  while  the  figure  of  the  unfaith- 
ful wife  comes  often  to  the  surface,  as  the  prophecy 
moves  onward.  The  vices  of  cruelty  and  dishonesty  that 
had  called  forth  the  great  ethical  demands  of  the  eighth 
century  prophets  are  less  prominent,  yet  covetousness, 
false  dealing  and  the  blood  of  the  poor  call  out  for  judg- 
ment. In  one  place  the  prophet  compares  Judah  unfa- 
vorably with  Israel,  for,  though  she  has  seen  her  sister 
put  away  for  unfaithfulness,  she  has  not  been  warned,  but 
has  pursued  a  like  course. 

Here  and  there,  in  the  midst  of  the  black  threatenings, 
gleams  of  hope  flash  out,  if  the  nation  will  but  return  to 
Jehovah  in  sincerity.  Remembering  Jeremiah's  own 


JEREMIAH  49 

revision  of  his  sermons  in  the  midst  of  the  religious  re- 
action under  Jehoiakim,  one  cannot  be  sure  just  how 
much  of  the  dark  picture  may  refer  to  the  years  before 
Josiah's  reform  and  how  far  the  coloring  has  been  af- 
fected by  the  conditions  of  Jehoiakim' s  reign.  During 
the  years  immediately  following  Josiah's  reform,  it  may 
be  reasonably  inferred  from  chapter  n,  the  substance  of 
Jeremiah's  preaching  consisted  of  the  requirements  of 
the  law  of  Deuteronomy. 

II.     ANALYSIS  OF  LESSON 

Title.-!:  1-3. 

Inaugural  Vision. — 1 :  4-19. 

Early  Preaching. — 2-6. 

Judah's  idolatry. — 2. 

Judah  a  faithless  wife. — 3  :  1-5. 

Judah  not  warned  by  fate  of  Israel. — 3  :  6- 1 8. 

Penitent  nation  to  be  pardoned. — 3 :  19-4 :  2. 

The  foe  from  the  north. — 4  :  3-6. 
Preaching  Covenant  throughout  Judsea. — 11 :  1-8. 

Home  Readings. — The  above  analysis  will  furnish  a  helpful  out- 
line for  daily  reading  of  Scripture  or  the  following  selections 
may  be  made:  (I)  1;  (2)  2:  1-18;  (3)2:  19-35?  (4)3: 1-5;  3: 19- 
4:2;  (5)3:6-18;  (6)  5: 10-19;  (7)11:1-8. 

III.     POINTS  TO  BE  NOTED  IN  PREPARATION 

Family  home  of  Jeremiah  (1 :  I ;  i  Kings  2  :  26;  Josh.  21 :  18; 
Jer.  11 :  21 ;  37  :  12) ;  opening  of  ministry  (1:2);  probable  youth- 
fulness  at  call  (1 :  6 ;  cf.  1 :  3) ;  writing  of  Jeremiah's  earlier  preaching 
(36 :  I,  2,  27,  28,  32) ;  assurance  of  divine  support  in  prophetic 
mission  (1 :  8,  19) ;  the  commission  (1 : 10) ;  the  message  (1 : 14-16)  ; 


5O      PROPHETS  OF  THE  SEVENTH  CENTURY 

the  nation  a  faithless  wife  (2 :  2 ;  3 :  1-5,  8) ;  idolatry  (2 :  1 1,  13,  28 ; 
5:  19)  ;  judgment  to  be  executed  by  foe  from  north  (4:  6,  16;  6 :  I, 
22,  23);  ethical  demands  (2:34;  5;  26-2*8;  6:13);  Israel  and 
Judah  (3:  10,  n) ;  the  prophet's  hope  (3:  12-18;  22-25;  ^:  I,  2); 
preaching  the  Deuteronomic  covenant  (11 : 1-8). 

IV.     POINTS  FOR  REVIEW  IN  CLASS 

Temperament  of  Jeremiah ;  family  and  home ;  date  of  call ; 
probable  age  at  call;  length  of  ministry;  natural  divisions  of 
ministry;  Israel's  political  history  during  first  eighteen  years  of 
Jeremiah's  ministry ;  religious  history  of  period ;  date  of  Deuter- 
onomic reform ;  probable  attitude  of  Jeremiah  toward  Josiah's  re- 
form ;  close  of  happy  period ;  the  first  record  of  Jeremiah's  first 
twenty-two  years  of  preaching;  composition  of  present  book  of 
Jeremiah;  the  harsh  character  of  the  message  assigned  to  Jere- 
miah ;  assurance  given  the  prophet  at  his  call ;  Hosea's  figure  that 
Jeremiah  adopted ;  chief  sins  attacked  by  Jeremiah ;  means  of 
divine  judgment  seen  by  the  prophet ;  Jeremiah's  comparison  be- 
tween Israel  and  Judah  ;  the  prophet's  message  of  hope ;  service 
probably  rendered  by  Jeremiah,  at  time  of  Deuteronomic  reform  ; 
was  Jeremiah's  hesitancy  to  undertake  his  prophetic  mission  com- 
mendable? the  possibilities  and  limits  of  moral  reform  by 
power  of  government  and  of  religious  reform  by  external  author- 
ity illustrated  by  the  reforms  of  Hezekiah  and  Josiah. 


NAHUM  5 1 

LESSON  IX 
NAHUfl 

Suggestions  for  Review. — The  length  and  historical  background 
of  the  first  period  of  Jeremiah's  ministry;  home  and  family  of 
Jeremiah;  chief  thoughts  of  Jeremiah's  earlier  preaching;  pos- 
sible substance  of  much  of  his  preaching  after  621. 

I.     THE  PROPHET  AND  His  WORK 
The  little  oracle  ascribed  to  Nahum  furnishes  almost 
no  information  as  to  the  life  of  the  writer,  and  hardly  of- 
fers a  basis  for  an  estimate  of  his  personal 
ine  Man  .    .  . 

characteristics.      The   heading    indicates 

the  name  of  the  prophet's  home ;  yet  three  widely  sepa- 
rated regions  vie,  in  tradition,  as  the  locality  indicated. 
One  of  these  is  near  Nineveh,  one  in  Galilee,  while  the 
third  and  most  probable  is  in  the  south  of  Judaea. 

Nahum's  prophecy  was  unquestionably  uttered  between 
the  fall  of  No-amon  (Egyptian  Thebes)  about  66 1, 
and  the  destruction  of  Nineveh,  about  607.  The 
former  event  is  referred  to  as  already  past  (  3:  8)  and  the 
latter  is  anticipated  as  yet  to  be  consummated.  In  the 
present  course,  the  book  is  taken  up  after  Zephaniah  and 
the  first  period  of  Jeremiah's  work,  in  the  belief  that  it 
should  be  dated  only  a  very  few  years  before  Nineveh's 
fall.  In  one  aspect,  the  book  offers  adequate  ground  for 
a  definite  statement  as  to  the  author — Nahum  was  a 
prophet  of  the  greatest  literary  power.  For  vivid,  in- 
tense, picturesque  utterance  he  is  hardly  surpassed  by 


52      PROPHETS  OF  THE  SEVENTH  CENTURY 

Isaiah  himself.  He  pictures  the  noise,  the  rush,  the 
terror  of  the  siege  of  Nineveh  with  supreme  force.  The 
pent  passion  of  a  nation  that  has  suffered  indescribable 
woe  for  centuries  finds  brief,  yet  adequate,  outlet  in 
Nahum's  burning  cry  of  exultation  over  the  downfall  of 
the  bloody  city,  a  veritable  lions'  den. 

The  chief  historical  events  of  Nahum's  age  have  al- 
ready been  rehearsed  in  the  preceding  lesson.     In  order 

Th   Ti  t0    aPPrec^ate  more   fulty>   however,   the 

one  theme  of  Nahum's  prophecy,  we  may 
rapidly  review  the  historic  relations  of  Assyria  and 
Israel.  It  was  in  the  middle  of  the  ninth  century  that 
northern  Israel  first  felt  the  power  of  this  conquering 
people.  Then  Ahab  had  united  with  other  Palestinian 
peoples  in  an  attempt  to  repel  one  of  Assyria's  early 
western  campaigns.  A  dozen  years  later,  Jehu,  who  had 
overthrown  the  house  of  Ahab,  was  forced  to  pay  tribute 
to  an  Assyrian  monarch.  Later  on,  a  period  of  inaction 
on  the  part  of  Assyria  gave  opportunity  for  the  long  and 
prosperous  reign  of  Jeroboam  II.  A  few  years  after 
Jeroboam's  death,  the  fatal  device  of  Ahaz,  King  of 
Judah,  for  securing  help  against  Israel  and  Syria  made 
Judah  tributary  to  Assyria,  and  led  on  to  the  complete 
destruction  of  both  Syria  and  Israel.  From  this  time 
(734)  forward,  Judah  paid  tribute,  with  more  or  less  of 
regularity,  till  the  time  of  Josiah.  Assyria  and  Egypt 
were,  during  much  of  the  period,  face  to  face ;  distracted 
Judah  sought  aid  now  from  one  and  now  from  the  other ; 
the  true  prophet,  Isaiah,  insisted  that  they  should  remain 
loyal  to  that  allegiance  to  Assyria  which  they  had  volun- 


NAHUM  S3 

tarily  assumed.  In  his  day,  intrigue  with  Egypt  led  to 
the  devastation  of  all  the  outlying  districts  of  Judaea  and 
only  the  providential  destruction  of  Sennacherib's  army 
saved  Jerusalem  from  the  fate  of  Samaria. 

Now,  at  last,  in  Nahum's  time,  the  death-knell  of  Assyria 
has  struck  and  Judah's  smothered  hatred  bursts  forth 

in   lurid   flame.      Assyria,   weakened   by 
The  Message  f 

the   sweep   of   Scythian  hordes   over   its 

territory,  threatened  by  the  rising  power  of  the 
Medes  and  Babylonians,  is  seen  by  the  waiting  prophet, 
with  its  fortresses  mere  fig-trees  bearing  the  first- 
ripe  figs;  if  they  be  shaken,  they  fall  into  the 
mouth  of  the  eater.  He  cries  "  Woe  to  the  bloody  city  ! 
it  is  all  full  of  lies  and  rapine."  He  hears,  with  inner 
ear,  the  noise  of  the  whip,  and  the  noise  of  the  rattling 
of  wheels,  and  prancing  horses,  and  bounding  chariots. 
He  sees,  with  inner  eye,  the  horseman  mounting,  and  the 
flashing  sword,  and  the  glittering  spear ;  then  a  multi- 
tude of  slain,  so  that  they  stumble  upon  their  bodies. 

Is  the  message  only  an  exultant  cry  of  vengeance  from 
the  cruelly  oppressed  ?  One  cannot  escape  the  convic- 
tion that,  at  times,  in  the  Old  Testament,  human  hard- 
ness of  heart  colors  utterance.  Christ  said  that  it  was 
for  the  hardness  of  their  hearts  that  the  ancient  law  per- 
mitted what  he  forbade,  thus  clearly  recognizing  a  prog- 
ress in  revelation  necessitated  by  human  limitations.  It 
is  evident,  to  the  historical  student,  that  Israel's  teachers 
progressed  slowly  from  natural  exultation  in  the  downfall 
of  hated  foes  to  the  supreme  conception  of  sacrifice  for 
others,  in  which  sacrifice  the  marks  of  suffering  are  the 


54      PROPHETS  OF  THE  SEVENTH  CENTURY 

marks  of  the  servant  of  Jehovah.  Nahum  lived  before 
that  truth  had  been  revealed,  when  suffering  was  still 
viewed  only  as  the  token  of  divine  judgment.  The 
prophets  before  him  had  taught  that  nations  fell  at  Je- 
hovah's just  will  and  because  of  their  sins  against  his 
laws  of  justice  and  mercy.  They  had  seen  Assyria,  the 
scourge  in  Jehovah's  hand,  lashing  his  unjust,  unmerci- 
ful and  unfaithful  people,  and  now  the  cruel  instrument 
of  punishment  was  itself  receiving  just  chastisement  long 
predicted  and  long  awaited.  The  platform  to  which  the 
gradual  revelation  of  the  principles  of  divine  government 
had  risen  in  the  sixth  century  before  Christ,  was  the  plat- 
form on  which  Nahum  stood.  The  elevation  of  this 
position  is  to  be  appreciated,  not  by  looking  down  from 
the  heights  of  later  prophecy  or  from  the  teachings  of 
Jesus,  but  by  looking  up  from  the  common  Semitic  con- 
ceptions in  the  midst  of  which  Israel's  prophets  lived  and 
according  to  which,  as  we  have  seen  (Lesson  II),  the 
strife  of  nations  was  the  personal  struggle  of  their  tribal 
gods.  The  victory  of  one  people  was  the  triumph  of  the 
god  of  that  people  over  the  god  of  the  vanquished,  or, 
at  best,  the  defeat  of  one  was  due  to  the  aloofness  of  its 
god  who  had  been  offended  by  lack  of  generous  offerings 
and  rigid  observance  of  his  forms  of  worship.  From 
this  common  Semitic  idea  up  to  the  conception  of  a  just 
God,  ruling  over  nations  with  an  even  hand,  permitting 
one  to  triumph  for  a  time,  that  he  might  thus  punish 
cruelty,  deceit  and  oppression  in  another,  but,  in  turn, 
bringing  vengeance  upon  this  for  its  bloody  rapine,  is  a 
lofty  ascent,  which  speaks  at  every  step  of  a  righteous  God 


NAHUM  55 

revealing  himself  to  his  children,  just  so  far  as  they  have 
advanced  toward  the  possibility  of  apprehending  him. 

The  first  chapter  of  Nahum  is  a  poem,  uttering  in  gen- 
eral terms  confident  assurance  through  trust  in  Jehovah, 
who,  slow  to  anger  and  great  in  power,  will  by  no 
means  clear  the  guilty.  The  second  and  third  chapters 
are  the  application  of  these  principles  of  divine  govern- 
ment to  guilty  Nineveh.  With  the  intense  oracle  of 
Nahum  the  cycle  of  prophecy  concerning  Assyria,  begun 
by  Amos,  closes. 

II.     ANALYSIS  OF  LESSON 

Title.— 1 :  i. 

Jehovah's  Appearance  in  Judgment  and  Defense. — 1 :  2-15. 

Siege  and  Capture  of  Nineveh. — 2. 

Cruelty  and  Fall  of  Nineveh. — 3. 

Home  Readings. — With  the  above  outline  of  the  prophecy  in 
mind,  the  following  division  may  be  followed  for  daily  Scripture 
reading:  (i)  1:  1-7;  (2)  1:8-15;  (3)  2;  (4)  3:  i-ii;  (5)  3: 
12-19;  (6)  Amos'  view  of  divine  government,  Amos  2:  i-io;  (7) 
Early  pictures  of  Jehovah  as  a  God  of  war,  Judges  5:23-31; 
Ex.  15 :  1-7. 

III.     POINTS  TO  BE  NOTED  IN  PREPARATION 

Nahum's  home  (1 :  i) ;  date  of  oracle  (3  :  8-12)  ;  vivid  word 
painting  (2:  4-6,  8-12;  3  :  1-4,  12,  13) ;  Assyria's  guilt  (2:  12,  13; 
3  :  I,  19);  conception  of  God  (1  :  2-8). 

IV.     POINTS  FOR  REVIEW  IN  CLASS 

Traditions  as  to  Nahum's  home;  possible  limits  in  dating 
Nahum's  prophecy;  probable  date  of  Nahum  relative  to  the  be- 


56      PROPHETS  OF  THE  SEVENTH  CENTURY 

ginning  of  work  of  Zephaniah  and  Jeremiah ;  literary  excellence 
of  Nah urn's  prophecy ;  time  at  which  Israel  first  came  in  contact 
with  Assyria  ;  Judah's  first  relations  with  Assyria  ;  final  chapter  in 
relations  of  Northern  Israel  and  Assyria ;  Judah's  relations  with 
Assyria  in  Isaiah's  time ;  condition  of  Assyria  in  Nahum's  time  ; 
the  theme  of  Nahum's  oracle ;  views  of  the  divine  government 
held  by  Nahum  ;  these  views  compared  with  common  Semitic 
ideas ;  the  imprecatory  element  in  Old  Testament  prophets  and 
poets  explained  in  the  light  of  Christ's  principle  that  revelation 
progressed  with  human  capacity  ;  what  are  the  principal  ideas  about 
God  and  his  government  taught  by  the  prophets  from  Amos  to 
Nahum  ?  are  these  ideas  fundamental  for  our  day  ?  would  their 
complete  adoption  change  our  civic  life  for  the  better  ?  our  church 
life? 


JEREMIAH  57 

LESSON  X 
JEREfllAH  (Second  Period) 

Suggestions  for  Review. — The  date  and  occasion  of  Nahum's 
prophecy;  its  theme; its  literary  quality;  its  fundamental  principles 
as  to  the  divine  government  of  nations. 

I.     THE  PROPHET  AND  His  WORK 

The  second  period  of  Jeremiah's  ministry  includes  the 
eleven  years  of  Jehoiakim's  reign  together  with  the  three 
months  of  his  son,  Jehoiachin.  During 
this  period,  we  have  vivid  pictures  of  the 
prophet  engaged  in  his  ministry  and  unusual  revelations 
of  the  deep  inner  struggles  through  which  he  passed. 
We  see  him  standing  in  the  court  of  the  temple,  warning 
the  worshipers  who  have  come  thither  from  the  cities  of 
Judah ;  we  see  him  at  the  temple  gate,  denouncing  the 
false  confidence  of  those  who  trust  in  the  sanctuary  as  a 
defense  while  they  are  guilty  of  moral  and  religious 
wrongs.  In  this  period,  plots  against  the  life  of  the 
prophet  are  rife,  even  among  the  men  of  his  native 
Anathoth.  At  times,  bitter  persecution  calls  from  him 
fierce  prayers  for  vengeance  upon  those  who  have  plotted 
against  him  while  he  has  been  seeking  their  good.  In 
his  despair,  he  turns  even  upon  Jehovah  himself  who  has 
set  him  as  a  prophet  of  doom,  making  him  a  laughing- 
stock and  his  message  a  reproach.  From  rebellion  his 
mood  passes  to  confident  trust  that  Jehovah  will  defend 
him  from  those  who  watch  to  entrap  him,  and  will  bring 


58      PROPHETS  OF  THE  SEVENTH  CENTURY 

vengeance  upon  them.  Again  he  breaks  forth,  this  time 
with  those  terrible  imprecations  upon  the  day  of  his 
birth,  reechoed  in  the  curse  of  Job.  At  another  time  the 
sensitive,  passionate  one  pleads  with  Jehovah  to  spare  his 
countrymen  the  doom  which  it  is  his  fate  to  pronounce. 
Destined  to  know  no  comfort  in  wife  and  child,  not  per- 
mitted to  enter  a  house  of  feasting,  denied  all  the  joys  of 
the  social  life  of  humanity,  the  prophet  must  himself 
serve  as  a  constant  symbol  of  approaching  doom. 

In  this  period  Jeremiah  often  teaches  through  symbolic 
acts  and  vivid  illustrations.  A  fresh  girdle,  buried  in  a 
distant  land  and  then  brought  back  marred,  is  the  symbol 
of  captivity.  The  potter,  shaping  the  clay  at  will,  be- 
comes the  type  of  the  ruler  of  nations.  Taking  advan- 
tage of  the  presence  of  a  company  of  Rechabites  in  Je- 
rusalem, Jeremiah  offers  them  wine  to  drink.  They 
steadfastly  adhere  to  the  command  of  abstinence,  given 
long  before  by  the  founder  of  their  tribe,  and  the  prophet 
is  able  to  draw  a  telling  contrast,  unfavorable  to  faithless 
[udah.  It  is  during  this  second  period  of  his  ministry 
chat  Jeremiah  commits  the  substance  of  his  earlier 
preaching  to  writing.  Thus,  by  every  possible  means, 
Dy  preaching  where  the  people  congregate,  by  symbolic 
action,  and  by  writing,  the  prophet  delivers  his  message 
to  his  generation.  Standing  alone  against  false  prophets, 
priests  and  rulers,  ridiculed,  forbidden  to  teach,  locked 
in  the  cruel  stocks,  with  his  very  life  in  constant  danger, 
his  sensitive,  almost  feminine  heart  shrank  and  quivered 
before  his  fate.  He  loved  his  people  to  whom  he  became 
an  alien  and  a  hated  enemy ;  he  rebelled  against  his  mis- 


JEREMIAH  59 

sion ;  in  passion  he  called  for  vengeance  or  turned  and 
accused  his  God ;  yet  he  went  forth  from  his  hours  of 
weakness  and  rebelliousness  to  the  duties  of  a  prophet 
called  to  a  mission  of  tragedy,  which  seems  almost  to 
prefigure  that  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 

With  the  death  of  the  good  king  Josiah,  the  party  in 
Judah  favorable  to  reform  met  speedy  reverses.  The  son 

of  Josiah,  who  was  chosen  to  succeed  his 
The  Times      -  -/  ,  ,    ,        , 

father,    was    deposed    by   the  victorious 

Pharaoh,  now  master  of  Palestine.  This  monarch  ap- 
pointed another  son,  Jehoiakim,  to  reign  as  an  Egyptian 
vassal.  Jehoiakim  was  the  ruler  who  showed  his  scorn  of 
Jehovah's  prophet  by  cutting  in  pieces  and  burning  the 
roll  of  his  sermons.  Under  him  idolatry,  suppressed  but 
not  destroyed  by  Josiah' s  measures,  returned  in  full 
flood. 

Early  in  Jehoiakim's  reign,  Nineveh  fell  before  the  ris- 
ing power  of  the  Medes  and  Babylonians.  Then  came 
the  death-grapple  between  Egypt  and  Babylon  at  Car- 
chemish  on  the  Euphrates  (604  B.  c.).  The  Egyptian 
hordes  were  swept  back  through  Palestine  in  hopeless  de- 
feat. Nebuchadnezzar,  son  of  the  Babylonian  king, 
thus  added  all  Syria  and  Palestine  to  Babylon.  For  a 
few  years  Jehoiakim  ruled  as  a  vassal  of  Babylon,  and 
then  died,  just  as  his  faithlessness  to  his  new  master 
brought  the  army  of  Nebuchadnezzar  to  chastise  Jerusa- 
lem. The  son,  Jehoiachin,  sat  upon  the  wretched  throne 
for  three  months  and  then  surrendered  at  discretion  to 
the  besieging  army  (597  B.  c.). 

It  was  probably  during  Jehoiakim's  Egyptian  vassalage, 


60    PROPHETS  OF  THE  SEVENTH  CENTURY 

when  there  was  a  brief  era  of  peace,  that  Jeremiah  stood 
The  at  tne  temple  gate,  declaring  to  all  that 

Message  their  safety  lay,  not  in  any  fancied  invio- 
lability of  the  sacred  mount,  but  in  amending  their  ways 
by  executing  justice  between  a  man  and  his  neighbor,  by 
not  oppressing  the  helpless,  and  not  shedding  innocent 
blood,  nor  walking  after  other  gods.  He  accused  them 
of  stealing,  murdering,  committing  adultery,  swearing 
falsely,  burning  incense  unto  Baal,  and  then  coming  to 
stand  before  Jehovah  in  his  house  and  saying,  "  We  are 
delivered."  He  charged  the  people  with  offering  child 
sacrifices  like  the  heathen,  of  worshiping  sun,  moon 
and  stars,  and  of  forgetting  Jehovah.  Though  he  ex- 
pressed, in  the  strongest  manner,  the  hopelessness  of  a 
change  in  the  evil  character  of  his  people,  he  also  de- 
clared most  definitely  that  Jehovah's  message  of  doom 
and  destruction  was  conditional;  if  the  people  would 
turn  from  their  evil,  God  would  repent  of  the  evil  that  he 
thought  to  do  unto  them. 

II.     ANALYSIS  OF  LESSON 

Vanity  of  Trust  in  the  Temple. — 7 :  1-20. 
Refusal  to  Listen  to  Prophets. — 7:  21-8:  22. 
Lamenting  the  Fate  of  the  People.— 9,  10:  17-25. 
Failure  to  Observe  Covenant. — 11 :  9-17. 
Persecution  by  Men  of  Anathoth. — 11 :  i8-12:  6. 
Judah  Overrun  by  Neighboring  Tribes. — 12 :  7-17. 
Symbol  of  the  Buried  Girdle. — 13:  1-17. 
Lament  for  Captivity  of  King. — 13:  18,  19. 
Can  the  Ethiopian  Change  his  Skin  ? — 13  :  20-27. 
Jeremiah  Pleading  with  Jehovah. — 14 :  1-17 :  18. 


JEREMIAH  6 1 

Lessons  from  the  Potter. — 18-20. 

Prophecy  conditional ;  plots. — 18. 

Ruin  irrevocable. — 19. 

In  the  stocks ;  sentence  of  exile. — 20 :  1-6. 

The  prophet's  hard  fate. — 20:  7-18. 
Judgments  on  Rulers,   Promise  of  Righteous   Ruler. — 22:  IO- 

23:8. 

Babylon  to  Rule  for  Seventy  Years. — 25. 
Temple  to  be  Destroyed. — 26. 
Faithfulness  of  the  Rechabites. — 35. 
Writing  Prophecies. — 36. 
Message  to  Baruch. — 45. 

Home  Readings. — The  following  selections  from  the  passages 
included  in  the  above  outline  are  suggested  for  daily  reading  of 
Scripture:  (I)  7:  1-20;  (2)  11:  i8-12:6;  (3)  13:  1-17;  (4) 
14:  1-18;  (5)18:  1-12 ;  (6)19;  (7)35. 

III.     POINTS  TO  BE  NOTED  IN  PREPARATION 

Some  scenes  of  Jeremiah's  preaching  (7:2;  11:6;  19 :  2,  14 ; 
26  :  2) ;  plots  against  the  prophet's  life  (11 :  21 ;  18 : 18) ;  in  the  stocks 
(20:2);  Jeremiah's  inner  struggles  (11:  20;  12:  1-6;  14:  10-13; 
18 :  19-23 ;  20 :  7-18) ;  excluded  from  family  and  social  life  (16 :  2, 8)  ; 
symbolic  and  figurative  teaching  (13:  1-9;  18:  1-6;  19:  10,  n; 
35:  i-n)  ;  Jeremiah's  preaching  committed  to  writing,  destroyed 
and  rewritten  (36 :  2, 4,  9,  10,  18,  21-23,  32)  \  Jeremiah's  message 
as  to  false  and  true  grounds  of  trust  (7:  4-15)  ;  worship  of  nature 
(8:  2,  3);  desertion  of  Jehovah  (18:  13-17) ;  hopeless  fixity  in  evil 
(13 : 23)  ;  message  of  doom  conditional  (18 :  8) ;  Nebuchadnezzar 
the  instrument  of  punishment  (25:  8-1 1). 

IV.     POINTS  FOR  REVIEW  IN  CLASS 

Extent  of  second  period  in  Jeremiah's  ministry ;  places  chosen 
by  Jeremiah  for  delivering  his  message  ;  dangers  which  threatened 


62      PROPHETS  OF  THE  SEVENTH  CENTURY 

him  ;  the  prophet's  attitude  toward  his  persecutors,  toward  his 
mission,  toward  God,  toward  his  doomed  countrymen ;  his  isolated 
condition;  his  methods  of  teaching;  a  true  picture  of  Jeremiah's 
character ;  the  political  condition  of  Judah  during  the  eleven 
years  following  Josiah's  defeat  and  death  ;  the  fate  of  Nineveh,  of 
Egypt ;  the  moral  and  religious  condition  of  Judah  under  Jehoia- 
kim ;  Jeremiah's  attitude  toward  the  temple  compared  with  that  of 
the  people ;  the  true  ground  of  hope ;  the  conditional  character  of 
prediction ;  Jeremiah's  predictions  as  to  Nebuchadnezzar ;  Jere- 
miah's attitude  toward  his  persecutors  compared  with  that  of 
Nahum  toward  Nineveh ;  was  Jeremiah  a  weak  and  unworthy 
minister  ?  the  human  weaknesses  of  a  prophet,  his  source  of 
strength;  circumstances  in  the  conditions  of  Jeremiah's  ministry 
and  in  his  own  temperament  that  made  his  life  peculiarly  tragic  ; 
constant  danger  of  placing  the  minor  and  conditional  before  the 
universal  and  absolute  in  religion,  illustrated  in  the  application  by 
the  men  of  Jeremiah's  day  of  Isaiah's  teaching  to  his  generation 
that  Zion  could  not  be  captured;  application  of  principle  to  our  own 
religious  lives. 


HABAKKUK  63 

LESSON  XI 

HABAKKUK 

Suggestions  for  Review. — Chief  events  of  political  history  during 
Jeremiah's  second  period ;  moral  and  religious  condition  of  Judah ; 
persecution  of  Jeremiah ;  Jeremiah's  methods  of  work  ;  the  ground 
of  his  message  of  doom. 

I.     THE  PROPHET  AND  His  WORK 
The  little  book  of  Habakkuk  has  a  much  more  per- 
sonal note  than  that  of  Nahum.     Nahum  utters  the  na- 
tional outcry  against  cruel  Nineveh  and 
The  Man  f       . 

accounts  for  the  judgment  upon  the  city 

on  those  principles  of  the  just  government  of  nations  that 
have  been  declared  by  the  prophets  preceding  him. 
Habakkuk  finds  himself  unable  to  square  their  grandly 
simple  philosophy  of  retributive  justice  with  all  the  facts 
that  the  complex  development  of  history  presents  to  his 
view.  His  brief  oracle  is  long  enough  to  give  us  a  dis- 
tinct view  of  the  prophet's  inner  struggle  with  the  per- 
plexity. The  truth  is  not  given  to  him  complete,  in  one 
perfect  inspiration.  He  has  to  stand  upon  his  watch- 
tower  and  wait  for  an  answer  to  his  doubt.  He  thus 
gives  us  a  clear  glimpse  of  the  fact  that  a  prophet  may 
have  to  endure  the  pain  of  struggle  with  doubt,  before  he 
can  attain  a  satisfying  view  of  truth  and  confidently 
utter  his  "Thus  saith  the  Lord."  Hosea  and  Jeremiah 
reached  their  deepest  insight  through  suffering,  while 
Habakkuk  arrived  at  his  "audacious  certitude  of  faith  " 
through  the  dark  valley  of  doubt. 


64      PROPHETS  OF  THE  SEVENTH  CENTURY 

It  is  probable  that  Habakkuk's  oracle  was  uttered  not 
far  from  the  time  of  the  battle  of  Carcljiemish,  during  the 
second  period  of  Jeremiah's  ministry.  Some  modern 
scholars,  who  believe  that  the  violence  against  which  he 
cries  out,  in  the  opening  verses,  is  that  of  the  Assyrian 
dominance,  would  place  him  within  the  first  period  of 
Jeremiah,  when  the  hand  of  Assyria  may  still  have  been 
felt  in  Judah,  but  it  seems  more  probable  that  Habak- 
kuk's picture  of  the  Chaldeans  was  drawn  after  they  had 
begun  their  world-conquering  career,  and  thus  the 
earliest  possible  date  for  his  message  would  be  about  the 
time  of  the  battle  of  Carchemish,  in  which  Nebuchad- 
nezzar decisively  defeated  the  Egyptians.  If  this  view 
be  correct,  Habakkuk  belongs  to  the  very  close  of  the 
seventh  century,  and  the  spoiling  and  violence  against 
which  he  cries  out  are  either  the  work  of  the  Egyptians 
during  their  brief  sway  from  the  death  of  Josiah  to  the 
victory  of  Nebuchadnezzar  over  Pharaoh -necoh,  or  they 
are  the  work  of  the  evil  leaders  and  rulers  of  Judah  dur- 
ing Jehoiakim's  reign. 

Whether   the   perpetrators   of  violence   are  thus   the 
Egyptians  or  the  rulers  within  the  state  of  Judah,  Ha- 
bakkuk pictures  his  age  as  one  in  which 
the  law  is  slacked  and  righteous  judgment 
is  wanting,  while  the  wicked  triumph  over  the  righteous. 
As  indicated  already,  the  new  Chaldean  rulers  of  Babylon 
have  begun  their  conquering  career  with  a  dash  and  fierce- 
ness that  can  only  be  compared  to  the  swift  movement 
of  leopard  or  eagle,  the  ravenousness  of  wolves,  or  to  the 
rush  of  the  wind.     For  some  years,  Babylon  had  been 


HABAKKUK  6$ 

practically  free  from  her  former  vassalage  to  Assyria 
under  the  Chaldean  prince  Nabopolassar,  whose  right 
arm  was  his  swift  and  determined  son  and  general, 
Nebuchadnezzar.  The  defeat  of  Pharaoh-necoh,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Euphrates,  had  laid  all  Syria  and  Palestine 
open  to  Nebuchadnezzar's  advance,  when  the  death  of 
his  father  compelled  him  to  hurry  back  to  Babylon,  in 
order  to  secure  his  seat  upon  the  throne.  He  soon  es- 
tablished himself  securely  and  was  able  to  confirm  his 
dominance  over  Palestine. 

The  oracle  of  Habakkuk  opens  with  a  cry  to  Jehovah 
because  spoiling,  violence,  strife,  contention,  injustice 

Th  _.  prevail.  To  the  question,  "  How  long?" 

the  prophet  receives  the  answer  that 
the  fierce  Chaldeans  shall  soon  come  as  the  instru- 
ment of  judgment.  Thus  far  his  message  is  closely 
parallel  with  that  of  earlier  prophets,  who  had  seen 
Assyria  as  the  instrument  of  judgment  in  Jehovah's 
hand.  Assyria  has  now  fallen,  the  victim  of  her 
own  cruel  rapacity,  and  Chaldea,  haughty  in  the  lust 
of  conquest,  rises  before  the  prophet's  vision  as  a  new 
scourge  in  the  hand  of  the  just  Ruler  of  nations ;  but 
Habakkuk  cannot  rest  here,  as  his  predecessors  had  done, 
in  the  simple  faith  that  Jehovah  is  using  the  conqueror  to 
punish  those  who  have  done  violence  and  wrong.  How 
can  it  be,  questions  this  prophet,  and  with  his  question 
a  new  era  opens  in  Israel's  developing  knowledge  of  God, 
how  can  it  be  that  a  righteous  God  can  use  the  worse  to 
chastise  the  better?  So  far  as  this  is  a  philosophical 
question,  Habakkuk  finds  no  answer  to  his  problem  of 


66      PROPHETS  OF  THE  SEVENTH  CENTURY 

world-history.  On  his  watch-tower,  waiting,  he  receives, 
rather,  the  old,  direct,  prophetic  message  that  one  who 
increases  that  which  is  not  his  shall  in  turn  become  a 
prey ;  he  who  builds  a  town  with  blood  and  stablishes 
a  city  by  iniquity  labors  for  fire  and  wearies  himself  for 
vanity.  " Tyranny  is  suicide"  is  the  terse  phrase  in 
which  the  essence  of  Habakkuk's  series  of  "woes"  has 
been  well  expressed.  This  truth  which  great  conquerors 
have  so  rarely  known,  which  dominant  individuals, 
classes  and  nations  have  so  rarely  apprehended,  Ha- 
bakkuk  uttered  in  a  series  of  songs  of  doom  against 
mighty  Babylon,  not  when  she  was  sinking  to  her  ruin, 
but  when  she  was  rising  in  the  lusty  power  of  her  un- 
contaminated  youth.  Tyranny  is  suicide,  for  justice  does 
reign,  though  all  about  us  we  may  see  naught  but  the 
strong  crushing  the  weak  and  worshiping  his  own  power. 
This  is  the  "audacious  certitude  of  faith"  that  makes 
Habakkuk  a  prophet  for  the  ages.  The  vision  is  yet  for 
the  appointed  time  and  it  panteth  toward  the  end,  and 
shall  not  lie ;  though  it  tarry,  wait  for  it ;  because  it  will 
surely  come,  it  will  not  delay.  The  day  will  yet  dawn 
when  nations,  classes,  individuals  will  know  that  the 
principle  declared  by  the  prophet  of  Jehovah  in  the  little 
subject  state,  and  applied  to  the  nation  that  then  domi- 
nated the  world,  shall  not  lie. 

The  book  closes  with  one  of  the  most  magnificent 
hymns  of  confident  trust  in  Jehovah  though  all  else  fail, 
ever  uttered  by  the  inspired  psalmists  of  Israel.  Many 
scholars  believe  the  poem  to  be  by  a  later  hand  than 
Habakkuk's,  but,  if  this  be  so,  it  was  indeed  an  inspira- 


HABAKKUK  6/ 

tion  that  placed  it,  not  in  the  general  book  of  Psalms, 
but  as  a  fitting  conclusion  for  Habakkuk's  sublime  faith 
born  out  of  doubt. 

II.     ANALYSIS  OF  LESSON 

Title.— 1 :  I. 

The  Prophet's  Perplexity.— 1 :  2-2 :  3. 

Outcry  against  unchecked  violence  and  injustice. — 1:  2-4. 
The  Chaldeans  as  the  instrument  of  judgment. — 1 :  5-11. 
How  can  God  permit  the  wicked  to  swallow  up  those  more 

righteous  ? — 1 :  12-17. 
The  prophet  waits  for  an  answer. — 2 :  1-3. 
The  Answer. — 2 :  4-20. 

.    The  Chaldeans  elated  with  pride,  but  the  just  shall  be  pre- 
served.— 2  :  4,  5. 
Assurance  of  Chaldeans'  fall  for  their  cruelty  and  rapacity. — 

2:6-20. 

Prayer  of  Habakkuk — A  Psalm. — 3. 
Invocation. — 3 :  i,  2. 
Majesty  of  Jehovah   and   discomfiture   of  his  enemies. — 

3:3-15. 
In  the  prophet,  fear  and  confidence. — 3:  16-19. 

Home  Reading's. — The  following  division  of  the  prophecy  may 
be  made  for  daily  reading  of  Scripture  :  (i)  1 :  i-n  ;  (2)  1 :  12-17 ; 
(3)2:1-5;  (4)2:6-20;  (5)3:1-8;  (6)  3:  9-15;  (7)  3  :  16-19. 

III.     POINTS  TO  BE  NOTED  IN  PREPARATION 

The  prophet  in  doubt  (1 :  2-4,  12,  13 ;  2 :  i)  ;  Habakkuk's  picture 
of  his  times  (1 :  4) ;  description  of  Chaldeans  (1 :  6-1 1);  Jehoiakim 
subject  to  Nebuchadnezzar  (2  Kings  24:  I)  ;  answer  to  Habakkuk 
(2 :  4,  6-8,  etc.)  ;  the  certainty  of  justice  (2:3);  the  coming  of 
Jehovah  (3  :  3-11);  query  why  Jehovah  comes  (3:8);  answer  (3 ; 
12-15)  5  effect  upon  the  poet  (3  :  16-19). 


68      PROPHETS  OF  THE  SEVENTH  CENTURY 

IV.     POINTS  FOR  REVIEW  IN  CLASS 

Habakkuk  and  Nahum  compared  ;  waysj  in  which  great  truths 
were  revealed  to  Jeremiah,  Hosea,  Habakkuk ;  probable  time  of 
Habakkuk's  ministry ;  Habakkuk's  picture  of  his  age ;  his  char- 
acterization of  the  Chaldeans;  the  change  of  ruling  power  in 
Palestine  at  about  Habakkuk's  time ;  parallel  between  the  thought 
of  Habakkuk  and  that  of  earlier  prophets;  point  at  which  Ha- 
bakkuk goes  beyond  earlier  prophets ;  essence  of  the  answer  that 
came  to  Habakkuk ;  applicability  of  Habakkuk's  great  principle 
to  present  social  conditions,  to  our  daily  lives;  theme  of  ch.  3. 


JEREMIAH  69 

LESSON  XII 
JEREniAH  (Third  Period) 

Suggestions  for  Review. — The  times  of  Habakkuk ;  the  in- 
strument of  Jehovah's  judgment  seen  by  Habakkuk ;  the  problem 
raised ;  the  faith  of  Habakkuk. 

I.     THE  PROPHET  AND  His  WORK 
The  third  period  of  Jeremiah's  ministry  extends  from 
the  surrender  of  Jehoiachin  and  the  partial  exile  of  597 
to  the  close  of  Jeremiah's  ministry,  after 
the    destruction    of    Jerusalem    in   586. 
During  this  period,  the  interest  of  the  prophet  is  divided 
between  the  exiles  in  Babylon  and  the  people  left  in  Jeru- 
salem.    He  instructs  those  in  exile  by  letter,  but  the 
desperate  folly  of  those  left  behind  in  Judaea  calls  forth 
his  most  constant  energies,  in  a  vain  effort  to  check  its 
course. 

The  weak  king,  Zedekiah,  who  seems,  at  times,  dis- 
posed to  listen  to  the  warnings  and  advice  of  Jeremiah, 
is  unable  to  protect  the  prophet  from  the  hatred  of  the 
nobles,  who,  during  the  last  siege  of  Jerusalem,  secure  his 
arrest  and  imprisonment  on  a  false  charge  of  desertion 
to  the  Chaldeans.  Jeremiah's  persistence  in  declaring 
the  certainty  of  Chaldean  dominance,  finally  leads 
the  exasperated  nobles  to  let  him  down  into  an  empty 
cistern,  there  to  sink  in  the  mire  at  the  bottom,  and  to 
starve.  From  this  extremity  he  is  rescued  by  permission 
of  the  king,  and  remains  a  prisoner  till  Jerusalem  is 
captured. 


70    PROPHETS  OF  THE  SEVENTH  CENTURY 

Throughout  these  years,  Jeremiah  finds  himself  con- 
stantly opposed  by  the  swarm  of  "  false  prophets,"  who 
give  pleasant  assurances  that  those  already  in  exile  shall 
soon  be  restored  and  that  the  Babylonian  supremacy  shall 
be  brief.  Early  in  Zedekiah's  reign,  Jeremiah  placed  a 
bar  upon  his  neck  and  gave  similar  bars  to.  the  ambassa- 
dors that  had  come  to  Jerusalem  from  neighboring 
peoples,  plotting  rebellion  against  Nebuchadnezzar.  By 
this  symbol  he  would  teach  that  Nebuchadnezzar's  yoke 
of  supremacy  must  rest  upon  them  all.  Hananiah,  the 
prophet,  broke  the  bar  from  Jeremiah's  neck,  and  de- 
clared that  within  two  years  Jehovah  would  break  the 
yoke  of  Babylon  and  restore  the  exiles ;  Jeremiah  re- 
placed his  wooden  yoke  with  one  of  iron.  Priests  and 
prophets  alike  came  under  his  fierce  condemnation  dur- 
ing this  period.  The  prophets  taught  those  whose  ways 
were  evil  that  Jehovah  would  protect  them.  Jeremiah 
stood  absolutely  alone  in  announcing  judgment  upon  the 
sinful  nation.  To  the  princes  he  seemed  a  traitor,  for, 
when  the  nation  had  entered  upon  its  last  mad  resistance 
to  Babylon,  he  still  taught  that  the  Chaldeans  would  be 
victorious.  After  the  capture  of  the  city,  Jeremiah 
was  permitted  to  remain  with  the  remnant  of  the  people 
whom  Nebuchadnezzar  left  in  the  land  ;  upon  the  murder 
of  the  governor,  this  little  company  fled  in  terror  to 
Egypt,  and  carried  the  prophet  with  them.  The  last 
glimpse  of  Jeremiah  shows  him  denouncing  the  worship 
of  the  queen  of  heaven,  to  whom  the  exiles  in  Egypt 
were  burning  incense.  Traditions  as  to  the  close  of  this 
tragic  career  vary.  According  to  one,  his  countrymen  in 


JEREMIAH  7 1 

Egypt  stoned  to  death  the  faithful  prophet,  but  another 
has  it  that  he  escaped  to  Babylon,  and  there  died. 

We  have  seen  the  close  of  the  second  period  of  Jere- 
miah's   ministry    marked    by    the  surrender   of    King 
Th   Ti  Jehoiachin  in  597.     At  that  time  the  king 

and  court  and  the  flower  of  the  popula- 
tion, including  nobles,  warriors  and  skilled  artisans, 
some  ten  thousand  men,  besides  women  and  children, 
were  carried  into  exile.  During  the  next  nine  or  ten  years 
Zedekiah,  uncle  of  Jehoiachin,  ruled  over  those  remain- 
ing in  Jerusalem,  as  a  Babylonian  vassal.  Then,  how- 
ever, under  the  influence  of  his  nobles  and  looking  to 
Egypt  for  support,  he  took  the  fatal  step  of  revolt.  The 
army  of  Nebuchadnezzar  soon  lay  before  the  doomed 
capital  of  Judaea.  The  siege  lasted  a  year  and  a  half  and 
the  wretched  people  had  known  almost  the  last  horrors 
of  starvation  before  the  city  fell.  The  vessels  of  the 
temple  that  had  not  been  taken  in  the  former  capture, 
and  all  other  treasures  were  carried  to  Babylon.  Jeru- 
salem was  burned,  and  its  walls  were  thrown  down. 
Many  had  already  fled  to  Egypt ;  many  had  perished  ; 
the  remainder,  save  the  very  poorest  of  the  land,  were 
carried  exiles  to  Babylon  ;  the  city  that  was  full  of  peo- 
ple sat  solitary.  The  Babylonians  appointed  Gedaliah 
governor  of  the  little  community  that  was  left,  establish- 
ing his  seat  of  government  at  Mizpah,  a  few  miles  north 
of  Jerusalem.  All  went  well  for  a  short  time  and  then 
the  king  of  Ammon  instigated  a  renegade  Jew  to 
murder  Gedaliah  and  his  supporters.  It  was  against 
Jeremiah's  protest  that  those  who  were  left  fled  to  Egypt. 


72      PROPHETS  OF  THE  SEVENTH  CENTURY 

In  Judaea  there  remained  only  a  few  scattered  peasants, 
without  any  form  of  local  government. 

From  the  standpoint  of  practical  national  policy,  sub- 
sequent events  showed  that  Jeremiah  was  right  and  the 
T.     „  nobles  of  his  day,  supported  by  the  false 

prophets,  were  wrong.  Rebellion  against 
Nebuchadnezzar  was  absolutely  hopeless.  Egypt  was 
unable  to  render  any  effective  aid  and,  without  her, 
Jerusalem  was  powerless  to  resist  the  siege  of  Nebu- 
chadnezzar. Even  after  Jeremiah's  warnings  had  been 
disregarded  and  rebellion  had  actually  begun,  it  is  prob- 
able  that  speedy  submission,  such  as  the  prophet  urged, 
was  the  best  course  then  open  for  the  political  welfare  of 
Judah.  For  the  exiles  in  Babylon,  too,  Jeremiah's  ad- 
vice that  they  adapt  themselves  speedily  and  quietly  to 
the  conditions  of  existence  in  the  distant  land,  and 
preserve  their  family  and  community  life  was,  politically, 
the  wisest. 

,  Jeremiah's  political  foresight  was  far  more  than  a 
shrewd  grasping  of  the  situation  and  adopting  a  course  of 
prudent  submission  to  the  inevitable.  He  saw  in  the 
moral  and  religious  conduct  of  his  contemporaries  a  break- 
ing of  the  covenant  with  Jehovah,  and  his  enlightened 
vision  perceived  in  the  conquests  of  Nebuchadnezzar 
the  hand  of  God  in  judgment.  When  Egypt's 
abortive  effort  to  aid  temporarily  relieved  Jerusalem 
from  siege,  the  people  reenslaved  their  Hebrew  servants, 
whom,  under  the  stress  of  fear,  they  had  released,  in 
obedience  to  the  law  of  Deuteronomy.  Such  a  situation 
as  this  reveals  the  true  temper  of  Jeremiah's  preaching. 


JEREMIAH  73 

He  proclaims,  in  the  name  of  an  outraged  God,  in 
whose  very  house  they  had  covenanted  to  free  their 
Hebrew  slaves,  liberty  to  the  sword,  to  the  pestilence 
and  to  the  famine. 

During  these  last  hopeless  years,  Jeremiah's  message 
was  not  wholly  one  of  siege,  famine  and  exile.  It  was 
while  he  was  himself  a  prisoner  in  the  court  of  the  guard, 
that  he  bought  a  piece  of  ancestral  land  in  Anathoth 
and  weighed  out  the  purchase  money  and  subscribed  the 
deed  in  the  presence  of  witnesses,  to  testify  that  houses 
and  fields  and  vineyards  should  yet  again  be  bought  in 
the  land.  The  prophet  looked  beyond  the  long  years  of 
coming  exile  to  the  day  when  He  that  scattered  Israel 
would  gather  him  and  keep  him  as  a  shepherd  doth  his 
flock.  He  held  firm  faith  that,  when  calamities  had 
shown  human  help  useless,  Jehovah  would  bring  back  his 
people  to  their  own  land.  During  the  years  when  the 
breaking  of  the  written  covenant  was  bringing  its  full 
measure  of  judgment,  Jeremiah  saw  a  day  when  a  new 
covenant  should  be  made ;  and  this  was  the  new  cove- 
nant, that  the  law  should  be  written  in  their  hearts,  so 
that  no  more  any  man  should  need  to  teach  another,  say- 
ing, Know  Jehovah ;  for  they  should  all  know  him  from 
the  least  unto  the  greatest.  To  the  heart-sick,  weary ' 
prophet  whose  fate  it  was  to  stand  alone,  while  his  nation 
went  madly  on  to  her  ruin,  came,  thus,  out  of  the  depths 
of  despair,  a  clear,  divine  light  revealing  the  spiritual 
character  of  true  religion,  as  no  other  light  revealed  it 
till  Christ  himself  taught  among  men.  Jeremiah  had 
seen  the  horrible  idolatry  of  Manasseh's  reign  swept 


74      PROPHETS  OF  THE  SEVENTH  CENTURY 

away  by  the  reform  of  Josiah,  in  conformity  to  the 
written  law,  and  had  heard  the  covenant  of  Jehovah  and 
his  people  renewed.  He  had  probably  participated 
actively  in  the  great  reform.  He  had  seen  the  tide 
sweep  back,  after  a  few  short  years,  the  covenant  tossed 
aside,  and  all  evil  returning,  while  the  doom  of  iniquity 
hastened  on.  Now  the  vision  comes  of  a  day  when  a 
new  covenant  shall  be  written  in  the  heart  of  man  and 
when  iniquity  shall  be  forgiven. 

II.     ANALYSIS  OF  LESSON 

Reply  to  Zedekiah's  Inquiry  during  Last  Siege. — 21 :  l-io. 
Appeal  to  the  Court  for  Just  Rule.— 21  :  1 1-22 :  9. 
The  False  Prophets.— 23 :  9-40. 
The  Good  and  Bad  Figs. — 24. 
Against  False  Hopes. — 27-29. 

Effort  to  restrain  Zedekiah  from  revolt. — 27. 

Controversy  with  Hananiah. — 28. 

Letter  to  Captives. — 29. 
Restoration. — 30-33. 

Jerusalem  to  be  ruled  again  by  prince  of  David's  line. — 30. 

Hope  for  Ephraim  and  Judah. — 31 :  1-3°' 

The  New  Covenant.— 31 :  31-34. 

Purchase  of  land  at  Anathoth. — 32. 

Purification  and  restoration  of  nation. — 33  :  1-16. 
Breaking  of  Covenant  to  Free  Slaves. — 34. 
Experiences  of  Jeremiah  during  Last  Siege. — 37-39. 
Experiences  of  Jeremiah  after  Fall  of  Jerusalem. — 40-44. 
Prophecies  against  Foreign  Nations  (different  periods). — 46-49. 
Fall  of  Jerusalem. — 52. 

Home  Readings. — From  the  above  outline  the  following  selec- 
tions are  especially  suggested  for  daily  reading  of  Scripture  :     (I) 


JEREMIAH  75 

21:  i-io;  (2)  21:  1 1-22:. 9;  (3)    28:  1-14;  (4)  29:  1-14;  (5)  30 : 
1-9,  18-23;  (6)  37:  11^15;  38  :  1-6;  (7)  31 :  29-34. 

Ill     POINTS  TO  BE  NOTED  IN  PREPARATION 

Jeremiah's  attitude  toward  exiles  of  597  (24:  1-5  ;  29  :  I,  5-10); 
attitude  of  Zedekiah  and  nobles  toward  Jeremiah  (21:  I,  2;  37:  3, 
11-15,  16-21;  38:  4-10,  14-16,  24-26);  the  message  of  the  false 
prophets  (23  :  n,  16;  27:  9,  10,  16;  28  :  2-4,  10,  n) ;  bars  of  iron 
(28:  12-14);  Jeremiah's  policy  of  submission  to  Babylon  (21 : 
8-10 ;  38 :  17,  1 8 ;  29  :  I,  5-10)  ;  Jeremiah  accused  of  being  a  traitor 
(37:  11-15  ;  38:  1-4) ;  last  glimpse  of  Jeremiah  (44:  I,  2,  7-10, 
24,  25,  30) ;  Jeremiah's  fundamental  principles  of  government  (22  : 
1-5,  n,  12;  34:  6-II,  17);  Jeremiah's  message  of  hope  (32:  9, 
10,  15  ;  31 :  10 ;  30  :  I,  2,  8,  9,  18,  21 ;  31 :  3I-35)- 

IV.     POINTS  FOR  REVIEW  IN  CLASS 

Limits  of  last  period  of  Jeremiah's  mission ;  prophet's  double  in- 
terest in  third  period ;  scene  of  his  chief  efforts ;  attitude  of  Zede- 
kiah toward  Jeremiah  ;  attitude  of  nobles  toward  Jeremiah,  and  his 
sufferings  at  their  hands ;  teachings  of  the  false  prophets ;  accusa- 
tion made  against  Jeremiah ;  Jeremiah's  experiences  after  fall  of 
Jerusalem  in  586;  last  glimpse  of  the  prophet ;  the  captives  of  597, 
who,  and  how  many  ?  the  new  king  ;  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem, 
when,  and  how  brought  about  ?  the  remnant  left  in  the  land ;  na- 
tional policy  advocated  by  Jeremiah  ;  why  wise  ?  advice  to  exiles 
in  Babylon ;  true  basis  of  Jerusalem's  attitude  on  national  ques- 
tions ;  Jeremiah's  hope  for  the  nation's  future  on  the  temporal 
side,  on  the  spiritual  side ;  Jeremiah's  view  of  a  religion  based 
upon  written  law ;  his  ideal  for  religious  guidance ;  a  comparison 
of  his  teaching  on  these  two  points  with  those  of  Christ ;  do  we 
realize  the  ideal  of  Jeremiah  for  the  new  covenant  in  our  lives  ? 


76      PROPHETS  OF  THE  SEVENTH  CENTURY 


LESSON  XIII 
REVIEW 

I.     THE  PROPHETS  AND  THEIR  WORK 
The   twelve   lessons   now  completed  have  dealt  with 
eight   different   prophets,    from   Amos,  the   first   whose 
message  is  preserved  in  a  separate  book, 
to  Jeremiah,  whose  work  marks  the  close 
of  the  truly  prophetic  period  of  Israel's  history.     Later 
prophets  labor  in  an  age  that  is  dominated  by  priestly 
ideals. 

The  personality  of  most  of  these  prophets  is  plainly 
recognizable  in  their  writings.  The  epoch-making  truth 
of  Amos  shines  clear  through  the  crystal  of  his  sternly 
just  nature.  The  writing  of  Hosea  mirrors  a  deep,  lov- 
ing nature,  born  to  suffer  and  to  enter  within  the  veil. 
Isaiah  shines  forth,  brilliant  in  his  supreme  gifts  and  at- 
tainments, towering  above  kings  and  all  principal  men  of 
his  age,  the  glory  of  his  race,  yet  hating  in  the  name  of 
the  exalted  God,  all  that  exalts  itself  among  men. 
Micah  stands  in  strong  contrast  to  his  brilliant,  cultured 
contemporary,  the  embodiment  of  the  peasants'  cry  for 
justice.  Zephaniah  has  absorbed  the  great  truths  of  his 
predecessors  and  applies  them  fearlessly  to  his  own  day, 
but  his  little  oracle  does  not  reveal  one  who  stands  forth 
among  the  others  as  a  great,  creative  prophet.  The  mes- 
sage of  Nahum  is  too  brief  to  give  a  rounded  picture  of 
the  writer's  personality,  yet  it  shows,  focused  in  one  in- 
tense nature,  a  burning  element  of  the  national  spirit. 


REVIEW  77 

Habakkuk's  short  oracle  is  long  enough  to  reveal  the 
prophet  as  an  earnest,  devout  thinker,  who  must  needs 
strive  to  know  and  understand  the  God  whom  he  serves. 
Jeremiah's  words  reveal  a  passionate,  loving,  faithful,  in- 
tensely human  nature  that  longs  for  man's  sympathy  and 
yet  can  stand  alone  with  God,  scorned  and  hated  by  all 
men.  As  a  whole,  these  eight  men  illustrate  the  fact 
that  God's  chosen  revealers  of  truth  are  selected  by  their 
inborn  and  cultivated  capacities.  Hosea,  by  his  very 
nature,  could  not  have  done  the  work  of  Amos,  nor 
could  Amos  have  uttered  the  truth  of  Hosea.  Isaiah  and 
Micah  give,  in  part,  the  same  teaching,  yet  Micah  could 
never  have  apprehended  Isaiah's  truth  in  its  multiple 
aspects.  It  was,  however,  the  peasant  prophet  whose 
influence  was  quoted  to  the  king  a  century  later.  Ha- 
bakkuk  started  a  long  line  of  fruitful  thought  that  was 
absolutely  foreign  to  the  intense,  direct  vision  of  earlier 
prophets  like  Amos  and  Hosea. 

All  of  these  prophets  were  men  who  lived  intensely  in 
their  own  nation  and  age,  yet  they  looked  beyond  the 
confines  of  Israel  and  comprehended  the  movement  and 
struggle  of  nations,  in  a  way  that  transcended  the  wisest 
human  statesmanship,  and  they  enunciated,  for  the  first 
time  in  human  speech,  truths  that  the  civilized  world  has 
yet  fully  to  apprehend.  In  their  manner  of  expressing 
these  truths,  they  proved  themselves  teachers,  poets,  and 
orators,  worthy  to  be  studied  as  skilful  teachers,  strong  and 
graceful  poets,  and  resourceful  orators  among  the  chiefest 
in  history.  Yet  all  this  was  but  the  guinea's  stamp  to 
the  souls  of  these  men,  who,  by  what  they  were  and  what 


78      PROPHETS  OF  THE  SEVENTH  CENTURY 

they  suffered,  became  fit  to  know  and  reveal  God  to  the 
ages. 

About  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  years  of  history 
are  included  between  the  work  of  Amos  and  the  close  of 
Jeremiah's  ministry.  From  the  political 
standpoint,  it  was  the  period  of  the  de- 
cline and  fall  of  the  nation.  The  external  forces,  how- 
ever, that  destroyed  the  nation  made  possible  the  devel- 
opment of  teachings  which  an  earlier  age  could  not  ap- 
prehend. Israel  lay  between  the  two  most  ancient  centers 
of  civilization  known  to  history,  the  Tigris-Euphrates 
valley  and  the  Nile  valley.  When  David  rose  to  power 
and  extended  his  sway  widely  over  the  peoples  of  Pales- 
tine, neither  of  these  centers  was  striving  to  draw  to 
itself  the  intervening  regions,  as  both  had  done  in  cen- 
turies before  Israel  had  settled  in  the  land.  Through- 
out the  age  of  prophecy,  however,  from  Amos  to  Jere- 
miah, Palestine  was  the  bone  of  contention  between  them. 
The  two  little  kingdoms  of  Israel  lacked  the  faith  of  the 
great  prophets  who  strove  to  keep  them  neutral  in  reliance 
on  Jehovah  alone,  and  looked,  now  to  Egypt,  now  to  As- 
syria, for  help.  In  the  heart  of  this  great  struggle  for 
world-supremacy,  the  people  of  Israel  formed  a  new  con- 
ception of  the  world. 

Amos  and  Hosea  taught  in  northern  Israel  a  few  years 
before  its  fall  at  the  hands  of  Assyria.  Isaiah  and  Micah 
labored  in  Judah  at  the  time  of  the  destruction  of  the 
federation  of  her  sister  tribes.  The  prophecy  of  the  next 
century  was  probably  called  forth,  in  the  first  instance, 
by  the  ravages  of  the  Scythian  hordes,  whose  devastating 


REVIEW  79 

march  seems  reflected  in  Zephaniah.  The  approaching 
destruction  of  Assyria  filled  the  vision  of  Nahum.  Jere- 
miah labored  throughout  the  years  of  Assyria's  weakness 
and  fall,  the  struggle  for  dominion  between  Egypt  and 
Babylonia,  and  the  conquest  and  destruction  of  Judah 
by  Babylon.  Habakkuk  belongs  to  the  time  of  conflict 
between  Egypt  and  Babylon. 

The  domestic  conditions  of  both  northern  and  southern 
Israel,  as  seen  through  the  eyes  of  the  prophets  of  the 
eighth  century,  were  characterized  by  those  inequalities 
*and  social  injustices  that  ever  attend  rapid  development 
from  simple,  agricultural  conditions  to  a  more  complex 
civilization,  with  developing  class  distinctions  and  mon- 
opolistic ownership.  The  prophets  of  the  next  century 
give  far  less  attention  to  moral  conditions,  and  emphasize 
especially  the  prevalence  of  idolatry,  which  became  so 
rife  in  the  intervening  reign  of  Manasseh  and  was  only 
temporarily  checked  by  the  drastic  reform  of  Josiah. 

With  the  new  conception  of  the  world  that  Israel 
gained  through  her  contact  with  the  great  powers,  she 

to  com" 


The  Messa  e          ' 

prehend  the^rnessapre  nf 


nations,  who  controlled  the  ambitions  of  kings  to  the 
working  out  of  his  righteous  purposes.  When  the  north- 
ern kingdom  fell,  the  prophets  interpreted  its  destruction 
as  the  just  judgment  of  a  just  God,  but  they  did  not  lose 
hope,  for  they  saw  that  the  righteous  remnant  within  the 
nation  would  be  saved.  Before  Judah  sank  to  her  ruin, 
they  had  begun  to  teach  that  the  same  righteous  God 
would,  in  turn,  bring  destruction  upon  Israel's  selfish 


8O      PROPHETS  OF  THE  SEVENTH  CENTURY 

oppressors.  Within  the  nation  itself,  when  social  in- 
equalities and  injustices  developed,  the  prophets  began  to 
lay  stress  upon  justice  and  mercy  between  man  and  man, 
rather  than  solemn  assemblies  and  multitudes  of  costly 
offerings,  as  the  true  means  of  pleasing  God.  When  the 
threatened  judgment  at  last  fell  upon  Judah,  prophecy 
had  already  taught  the  divine  lesson  of  a  spiritual  religion 
whose  laws  were  to  be  written  in  the  heart,  and  the 
loyal  remnant  was,  at  least,  partly  prepared  to  preserve 
its  faith  in  Jehovah,  even  when  the  visible  signs  of  his 
presence  were  destroyed.  Thus,  out  of  the  conditions, 
needs,  and  capacities  of  the  times,  unfolded  the  great 
teachings  of  the  prophets  as  to  the  true  nature  of  God 
and  the  principles  of  his  government.  On  these  great 
conceptions  of  God  and  his  government,  the  teaching  of 
the  prophets  as  to  the  history  of  the  past,  the  statesman- 
ship of  the  present,  and  the  hope  for  the  future,  rest. 
On  these  same  conceptions,  rest,  too,  their  demands  for 
justice  and  mercy  toward  one's  fellow  men,  and  for  hu- 
mility and  trust  toward  God,  as  the  essential  require- 
ments of  true  religion. 

II.     ANALYSIS  OF  LESSON 

I.  Prophets  of  the  Eighth  Century. 

1.  Amos  the  prophet  of  righteousness. 

2.  Hosea  the  prophet  of  love. 

3.  Isaiah  the  prophet  of  an  exalted  God. 

4.  Micah  the  prophet  of  the  common  people. 

II.  Prophets  of  the  Seventh  Century. 

1.  Zephaniah  the  prophet  of  the  judgment  day. 

2.  Jeremiah  the  prophet  of  Judah's  fall  and  of  the  kw  writ- 

ten in  the  heart. 


REVIEW  8 1 

3.  Nahum  the  prophet  of  Assyria's  doom. 

4.  Habakkuk  the  prophet  of  philosophical  questioning. 

Home  Readings. — The  following  typical  selections  from  each 
prophet  are  suggested  for  daily  reading  of  Scripture,  during  the 
week  of  review:  (i)  Amos  2:  i-io ;  (2)  Hosea  11:  l-ii;  (3) 
Isaiah  6;  (4)  Micah  3 ;  (5)  Zephaniah3:  1-8;  Nahum  3 :  l-ii; 
(6)  Habakkuk  1:  12-2:  3;  (7)  Jeremiah  27:  12-15  ;  31:  31-34. 

III.     POINTS  FOR  REVIEW  IN  CLASS 

NOTE. — A  selection  may  wisely  be  made  from  the  following 
points  for  review,  according  to  the  interests  and  capacity  of  the 
particular  class. 

Names  of  eighth  century  prophets ;  a  striking  characteristic  of 
each  man ;  a  prominent  teaching  of  each ;  names  of  seventh  cen- 
tury prophets ;  a  striking  characteristic  of  each  man  ;  a  prominent 
teaching  of  each  ;  individuality  of  the  prophets  as  men  in  relation 
to  their  respective  parts  in  revelation ;  skill  of  the  prophets  of  the 
eighth  and  seventh  centuries  as  teachers,  poets,  and  orators ;  their 
greater  glory. 

General  course  of  Israel's  political  history  from  Amos  to  Jere- 
miah ;  the  significance  of  Israel's  geographical  position ;  Israel's 
new  ideas  in  the  ninth  and  eighth  centuries ;  chronological  posi- 
tion of  Amos  and  Hosea  in  Israel's  history ;  of  Isaiah  and  Micah  ; 
historical  circumstances  that  reawakened  prophecy  in  the  seventh 
century;  great  historical  events  during  Jeremiah's  ministry. 

Sins  chiefly  attacked  by  prophets  of  eighth  century ;  by  those 
of  seventh  century ;  religious  significance  of  Israel's  enlarged  con- 
ception of  world ;  the  prophetic  interpretation  of  the  fall  of  Israel ; 
ground  of  hope  in  spite  of  national  ruin ;  the  prophetic  teaching  as 
to  God's  requirements ;  significance  of  Jeremiah's  doctrine  of  the  law 
in  the  heart  coming  just  before  destruction  of  Jerusalem ;  progress 
of  divine  revelation  in  relation  to  human  needs  and  capacities; 
the  fundamental  element  in  the  teaching  of  the  prophets;  the  sum 
of  prophetic  teaching  as  to  man's  duty  to  man,  man's  duty  to  God. 


82       PROPHETS  OF  THE  EXILE  AND  RESTORATION 


III.    Prophets  of  the  Exile  abd  Restoration 


LESSON  XIV 
EZEKIEL  (First  Period) 

Suggestions  for  Review. — Great  national  events  during  Jere- 
miah's later  years  ;  Jeremiah's  national  policy  and  his  fundamental 
principles  of  government ;  the  tragic  personal  experiences  of  Jere- 
miah during  the  third  period  of  his  ministry ;  his  vision  of  the 
future. 

I.     THE  PROPHET  AND  His  WORK 

Among  those  carried  away  from  Jerusalem  by  Nebu- 
chadnezzar in  597  B.  c.  was  the  young  priest  Ezekiel. 
Th  Ma  ^ve  years  later>  when  he  was  in  Baby- 
lonia, on  the  banks  of  one  of  the  sluggish 
watercourses  which  traversed  the  low  alluvial  plains  of 
that  region,  he  saw  a  vision  of  Jehovah  coming  in  stormy 
wind  and  flashing  lightning,  and  heard  a  voice  that  comr 
missioned  him  a  prophet  to  Israel.  Whether  or  not 
Ezekiel  had  actually  ministered  as  a  priest  in  Jerusalem 
before  his  captivity,  he  certainly  had  the  greatest  famil- 
iarity with  all  the  details  of  the  temple  and  its  worship. 
In  Babylonia,  he  lived  in  the  community  of  exiles  that 
was  settled  at  Tel-abib  by  the  river  or  canal  Chebar,  to 
the  east  of  the  city  of  Babylon,  occupying  his  own  house 
where  the  elders  of  Israel  resorted  to  hear  his  message. 
We  learn  that  the  prophet's  wife  died  at  about  the  time 


EZEKIEL  83 

when  the  final  siege  of  Jerusalem  began,  and  that  he 
could  not  mourn  publicly  for  her  because  he  must  serve 
as  a  warning  of  the  grief  that  would  stupefy  Israel  at  the 
coming  judgment. 

In  his  public  ministry,  Ezekiel  carried  symbolic  teach- 
ing further  than  any  of  his  predecessors.  On  a  tile,  he 
portrayed  a  city  and  round  about  it  placed  the  means  of 
mimic  siege.  He  lay  long  upon  his  side  and  ate  polluted 
food,  carefully  weighed  and  measured.  He  cut  off  his 
hair  and  burned  some  and  scattered  some  to  the  winds 
of  heaven.  At  another  time,  he  carried  out  his  goods  by 
day  and  in  the  night  dug  through  the  wall  and  bore  his 
goods  on  his  shoulder,  as  though  departing  into  exile. 

In  the  Book  of  Ezekiel,  the  prophet's  symbolic  acts 
mingle  almost  indistinguishably  with  his  far  more  com- 
plex symbolic  visions.  In  these,  we  have  the  prototype 
of  that  elaborate  symbolism  which  characterizes  the  later 
apocalyptic  writings,  such  as  Daniel  and  Revelation. 
Shining,  winged  beings  with  faces  of  man,  lion,  ox,  and 
eagle ;  wheels  set  with  eyes  ;  the  likeness  of  a  throne  as 
the  appearance  of  a  sapphire  stone ;  one  having  the  ap- 
pearance of  fire  from  his  loins  and  downward  and  from 
his  loins  and  upward  as  it  were  glowing  metal ;  such  are 
some  of  the  strange  images  that  appear  in  Ezekiel' s  pages 
and  almost  baffle  the  sober  Occidental  imagination.  Yet  v 
Ezekiel  lacks  almost  wholly  the  charming,  poetic  pictures  f 
and  illustrations  from  nature  that  were  so  abundant  in  an/ 
Isaiah  or  Hosea.  Israel  and  the  prophet  have  been  torn 
from  the  vine-clad  hills  of  Palestine  and  set  in  the  midst 
of  a  teeming  population  on  the  hot  plains  of  Babylonia, 


84       PROPHETS  OF  THE  EXILE  AND  RESTORATION 

where  the  monotony  is  varied  only  by  man -reared  struc- 
tures, and  where  a  polytheistic  religion  has  developed 
most  elaborate  symbolic  sculpture.  The  Hebrew  prophet, 
ever  sensitive  to  his  surroundings,  ever  ready  to  seize 
whatever  might  impress  his  hearers  and  make  it  the  ve- 
hicle for  his  message,  steeps  his  soul  in  the  imagery  of  the 
region  to  which  he  and  they  have  been  rudely  transferred. 
The  first  period  of  Ezekiel's  ministry  coincides  with  a 
portion  of  the  third  in  Jeremiah's  work.  Both  prophets 
divide  their  interest  somewhat  between  the 
people  left  in  Jerusalem  and  those  trans- 
ferred to  Babylonia.  Jeremiah's  book  reveals  much  of 
the  political  confusion  that  characterized  the  wretched, 
weak  reign  of  Zedekiah,  who  was  unable  to  withstand  the 
intrigues  of  the  unprincipled  nobles  left  in  Jerusalem. 
Ezekiel,  in  his  vision,  is  transferred  to  the  temple  and 
sees  the  abominable  idolatry  of  creeping  things  and 
beasts  and  the  worship  of  the  sun,  which  fill  its  sacred 
precincts.  Jeremiah  shows  that  the  exiles  were  expecting 
speedy  release,  and  that  those  in  Jerusalem  were  misled 
by  false  prophets,  who  taught  that  the  captivity  would  be 
brief  indeed,  while  Ezekiel  indicates  that  the  same  false 
prophecy  was  rife  in  Babylonia.  It  may  be  inferred 
from  Ezekiel  and  Jeremiah  that  Nebuchadnezzar  allowed 
much  of  local  independence  to  the  company  of  exiles  on 
the  Chebar.  They  could  build  houses,  preserve  their 
family  life,  transact  business,  and  maintain  their  national 
forms  of  life,  under  a  large  measure  of  local  self-govern- 
ment, while  messengers  might  pass  between  them  and 
their  fellow  countrymen  in  Judaea. 


EZEKIEL  85 

At  this  period,  the  message  of  Ezekiel  for  the  Baby- 
lonian exiles,  like  that  of  Jeremiah  for  those  left  in  Pales- 
tine, was  chiefly  the  declaration  of  the 
coming  destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  the 
complete  exile  of  its  inhabitants.  From  the  standpoint 
of  political  expediency  it  was,  as  we  saw  in  the  preceding 
lesson,  vitally  necessary  that  Israel,  at  home  and  abroad, 
should  understand  that  resistance  to  the  Babylonian 
power  was  utterly  futile.  Ezekiel' s  symbols  of  siege  and 
flight,  of  eating  polluted  food  carefully  measured  and, 
again,  eating  his  food  with  trembling,  or  of  burning  and 
scattering  his  hair,  all  carried  the  one  message  of  destruc- 
tion, flight,  scattering  in  exile,  and  living  among  the 
heathen.  During  the  final  siege  of  Jerusalem,  when  the 
last  revolt  had  been  undertaken  in  the  confidence  that 
Egypt  would  give  effective  aid,  Ezekiel  uttered  messages 
of  doom  upon  the  wretched  helper.  As  with  other 
prophets,  however,  Ezekiel' s  political  wisdom  was  the 
fruit  of  his  religious  insight  and  his  statesmanship  was 
but  an  aspect  of  his  high  prophetic  mission.  His  nation 
was  without  faith  in  Jehovah  ;  it  was  seeking  help  from 
a  heathen  power,  and  was  offering  worship  to  heathen 
gods  in  the  hope  of  obtaining  their  aid.  The  great  les- 
son of  the  prophets,  that  Jehovah  ruled  among  the  nations 
and  used  their  proud  conquests  to  execute  his  sovereign 
will,  had  not  yet  been  learned  by  the  people.  The  Baby- 
lonian exile  was  needed  to  impress  the  soul  of  the  nation, 
through  long  years  of  meditation  during  the  stagnancy 
of  the  outward  national  life.  Ezekiel  was  busily  engaged 
in  preparing  the  way  for  the  right  reception  of  the 


86        PROPHETS  OF  THE  EXILE  AND  RESTORATION 

coming  judgment  which,  if  received  wrongly,  might 
crush  out  the  last  vestiges  of  his  peoplp's  faith  in  Jehovah. 
If  the  death  of  Josiah  and  the  partial  exile  of  597  had 
been  followed  by  a  flood  of  idolatry,  in  the  belief  that 
Jehovah  had  deserted  his  people  and  that  other  gods 
must  be  sought,  what  might  not  follow  the  destruction  of 
the  sacred  city  and  temple  !  Ezekiel's  visions  of  the 
glory  of  Jehovah  riding  above  the  cherubim,  coming  to 
Babylonia,  leaving  the  temple  and  city,  were  instinct 
with  the  all- important  truth  for  his  age,  the  truth  that 
Jehovah  could  come  and  had  come  to  his  people  in  the 
distant  land.  Another  truth  that  was  peculiarly  neces- 
sary to  enable  Ezekiel's  generation  to  receive  the  exile 
aright,  concerned  the  relation  of  the  individual  to  Jehovah. 
Both  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel  quote  the  proverb  which  was 
evidently  on  many  lips  in  those  days  of  retribution, 
"The  fathers  have  eaten  sour  grapes,  and  the  children's 
teeth  are  set  on  edge."  By  an  easy  application  of 
Israel's  earlier  doctrine  of  retribution,  those  upon  whom 
the  terrors  of  these  final  days  fell  pitied  themselves  as  the 
victims  of  their  fathers'  guilt.  Now  the  time  had  come 
when,  in  the  fall  of  the  nation,  thejidividual  must  stand 
in  his  naked  personality  before  his  God.  Ezekiel  elab- 
orated the  truth  that  Jeremiah  had  begun  dimly  to  see, 
the  truth  that,  before  a  just  God,  each  stood  or  fell  as  an 
individual,  according  to  his  own  personal  life  and  present 
character,  whatever  the  record  of  his  fathers,  whatever 
his  own  earlier  vice  or  virtue.  Thus,  with  a  wise  po- 
litical foresight  that  pointed  out  to  his  generation  the  inev- 
itable conclusion  of  the  present  struggle  of  nations,  and 


EZEKIEL  87 

with  a  divine  religious  insight  that  saw  the  great  truths 
necessary  to  make  the  chastisement  a  blessing,  Ezekiel 
taught  his  fellow  exiles,  from  the  fifth  year  of  Jehoia- 
chin's  captivity  to  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  six  years 
later  (592-586  B.  c.). 

Can  one  comprehend  the  twofold  message  of  divine v 
justice  and  divine  mercy,  that  came  to  northern  Israel 
through  Amos  and  Hosea,  just  before  her  fall,  and  the 
manifold  message  of  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel,  that  prepared 
southern  Israel  for  the  destruction  of  the  nation  and  the 
night  of  exile,  and  fail  to  see  God  opening  to  Israel  just 
that  measure  of  divine  truth  that  the  successive  crises 
needed  ? 

II.    ANALYSIS  OF  LESSON 

Preface.— 1 :  1-3. 

Ezekiel's  Repeated  Call.— 1 :  4-8. 

Symbols  of  Doom. — 4,  5. 

The  Pollution  and  Doom  of  the  Land. — 6,  7. 

Visions  of  Jerusalem's  Sin  and  Punishment. — 8-11. 

Idolatry  in  the  temple. — 8. 

Slaughter  of  idolaters. — 9. 

Fire  scattered  on  the  city. — 10 :  1-7. 

The  glory  of  Jehovah  above  the  cherubim. — M) :  8-2O. 

Judgment  on  wicked  counselors. — 11 :  1-13. 

Jehovah's  care  for  the  exiles. — 11 :  14-21. 

Glory  of  God  leaves  the  city. — 11 :  22-25. 
Further  Announcements  of  Jerusalem's  Sin  and  Fall. — 12-19. 

Symbols  of  siege  and  exile. — 12 :  1-20. 

The  false  prophets. — 12:  21-14. 

Allegories  of  the  nation's  sin. — 15-17. 

The  individual  and  his  God. — 18. 


88        PROPHETS  OF  THE  EXILE  AND  RESTORATION 

A  dirge  for  the  rulers  of  Israel. — 19. 
Later  Prophecies  of  Judgment. — 20-23. 

Israel's  sinful  history. — 20 :  1-44. 

Fire  and  sword  directed  against  Jerusalem.— 20 :  45-21. 

Jerusalem's  moral  corruption. — 22. 

Israel  and  Judah  unfaithful  wives. — 23. 
At  the  Opening  of  the  Final  Siege.— 24. 

Jerusalem  to  be  cleansed  by  fire. — 24 :  1-14. 

Death  of  prophet's  wife. — 24:  15-27. 
Doom  of  Egypt — 29:  1-16;  30,  31. 

Home  Readings. — From  the  above  list,  the  following  typical  pas- 
sages are  suggested  for  daily  reading  of  Scripture :  (I)  1;  (2) 
4-  I-I3J  (3)  «;  (4)  11 :  14-25;  (5)  12:  1-20;  (6)  18;  (7)  22. 

III.     POINTS  TO  BE  NOTED  IN  PREPARATION 

Place  and  time  of  EzekiePs  repeated  call  (1 :  i,  2;  3:  22,  23)  ; 
his  life  in  Babylonia  (8:  I ;  14:  1  ;  20:  I  ;  24:  15,  16) ;  symbolic 
teaching  (4:  1-3,  4-8;  12:  1-6,  etc.);  symbolic  visions  (1:  4-28; 
1 :  8  ;  8 :  2,  3,  etc.) ;  vision  of  idolatry  in  Jerusalem  (8  :  9-16)  ;  false 
prophets  (13 :  1-7,  10,  II) ;  principal  subject  of  Ezekiel's  message 
during  first  period,  see  "  Analysis  of  Lesson  " ;  belief  in  Jerusalem 
that  Jehovah  had  forsaken  his  people  (8:  12);  glory  of  Jehovah 
in  Babylon  (1 :  28  ;  3  :  23  ;  11 :  14-16) ;  glory  of  Jehovah  leaving 
temple  (10 :  1 8,  19) ;  the  individual  judged  as  an  individual  (18  :  4, 
5-9,  10-13,  *>.  2I»  24). 

IV.     POINTS  FOR  REVIEW  IN  CLASS 

Date  of  the  beginning  of  Ezekiel's  captivity,  of  his  call  to  the 
prophetic  ministry ;  his  time  relatively  to  Jeremiah's ;  circumstances 
of  Ezekiel's  life  in  Babylonia ;  his  use  of  symbolic  teaching  ;  char- 
acter of  the  imagery  in  his  visions ;  condition  of  worship  in  Jeru- 
salem as  pictured  by  Ezekiel ;  false  prophets  in  Jerusalem  and  Tel- 
abib ;  conditions  of  life  for  the  first  exiles  in  Babylonia  ;  the  great 


EZEKIEL  89 

theme  of  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel  prior  to  586  B.  c. ;  the  political 
wisdom  of  Ezekiel's  preaching ;  scepticism  in  Jerusalem ;  the  two 
great  troths  that  Ezekiel  taught  the  exiles ;  why  were  these  truths 
especially  important  at  that  time?  the  progressive  revelation  of 
truth  through  Israel's  prophets  to  meet  new  crises;  is  prophecy 
simply  a  natural  growth  ?  the  truth  in  the  doctrine  of  the  visitation 
of  iniquities  unto  the  third  and  fourth  generation  and  in  Ezekiel's 
doctrine  of  individualism — can  the  two  be  harmonized  ? 


9O       PROPHETS  OF  THE  EXILE  AND  RESTORATION 


LESSON  XV      j 

OBADIAH  AND  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL  AGAINST 
FOREIGN  NATIONS 

Suggestions  for  Review. — Date  and  historical  circumstances  of 
EzekieFs  first  period ;  great  theme  of  Ezekiel  prior  to  586  B.  C. ; 
two  important  truths  especially  taught. 

I.     OBADIAH  AND  His  WORK 

The  subject  of  Obadiah's  vision  is  clear,  but  the 
prophet's  date  is  somewhat  uncertain.  On  the  whole, 

it  seems  probable  that  the  references  in 
The  Man 

verses  11-14  concern  the  hostile  conduct 

of  the  Edomites  at  the  time  when  Jerusalem  was  des- 
troyed by  the  Chaldeans.  The  prophet,  in  that  case,  prob- 
ably delivered  his  oracle  soon  after  586  B  c.  and  voiced 
the  national  condemnation  of  Edom's  attitude  at  that 
fateful  time.  The  first  nine  verses  of  his  little  oracle  are, 
almost  certainly,  quoted  from  some  earlier  prophecy 
against  Edom,  which  Jeremiah  also  quotes.1  The  latter 
part  of  the  book,  however,  bears  some  marks  of  a  post- 
exilic  date,  so  that  the  problem  of  the  time  of  Obadiah's 
work  is  a  complex  one.  We  can  hardly  characterize  the 
prophet  as  more  than  a  voice  which  utters  the  bitterness 
of  the  nation  when  she  sees  her  neighbors  exulting  in  her 
complete  humiliation  before  Nebuchadnezzar. 

1  For  the  arguments  which  show  that  both  Jeremiah  and  Oba- 
diah  quote  an  earlier  prophecy,  see  Driver,  "  Literature  of  Old 
Testament,"  p.  319. 


OBADIAH  AND  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL  9 1 

It  is  evident  from  Obadiah  11-14  tnat>  when  Jerusalem 
was  sacked,  the  Edomites  rejoiced  and  even  participated 

in  the  plundering  and  in  cutting  off  the 
The  Times      r    .  .          ,  .  °        ,. 

fugitives  who  were  escaping.     The  earlier 

verses  of  the  prophecy  give  a  vivid  picture  of  the  dwelling- 
place  of  Edom  in  the  rocky  fastnesses  south  of  Judaea. 
There  this  people,  counted  as  kindred  of  Israel,  main- 
tained itself  through  long  centuries,  in  which  mutual 
hatred  found  repeated  opportunity  for  expression  amid 
the  vicissitudes  of  the  two  little  peoples. 

The  first  half  of  the  prophecy  is,  like  Nahum,  an  un- 
relieved message  of  doom  against  a  cruel  foe,  but,  brief 
as  it  is,  the  book  of  Obadiah  does  not 
stop  here.    It  catches  up  in  swift  utterance 
the  message  of  Zephaniah,  of  a  day  of  judgment  upon 
the  nations,  a  day  when  their  dealing  shall  return  upon 
their  own  heads,  and  passes  quickly  to  the  firm,  prophetic 
expectation  that  a  saved  and  blessed  remnant  of  Jehovah's 
people  shall  yet  possess  the  land. 


II.     FOREIGN  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL 

The  book  of  Ezekiel  may  be  divided  into  three  clearly 
marked  sections.  The  second  division  (chapters  25-32) 
is  made  up  of  prophecies  concerning  foreign  nations.  A 
large  part  of  these  have  the  same  general  background 
as  Obadiah  11-14.  I*1  chapter  25,  Judah's  immediate 
neighbors,  Ammon,  Edom,  Moab,  and  the  Philistines,  are 
denounced  because  of  their  attitude  on  the  occasion  of 
Judah'  s  captivity.  Ammon  and  Moab  have  regarded  Jeru- 


gi       PROPHETS  OF  THE  EXILE  AND  RESTORATION 

salem's  downfall  as  the  refutation  of  Israel's  claim  to  be 
the  people  of  Jehovah.  Edom  and  the  Philistines  have 
taken  actual  vengeance  in  the  day  of  ner  distress.  Fol- 
lowing these  short  oracles,  there  comes  an  elaborate 
prophecy  against  Tyre  for  rejoicing  in  the  discomfiture 
of  Judah.  The  rich  merchant  city  is  pictured  as  a  ship, 
equipped  from  every  quarter  of  the  world,  wrecked  and 
foundering.  A  short  prophecy  against  Sidon  declares 
that  there  shall  no  more  be  a  hurting  thorn  of  any  that 
are  round  about  the  house  of  Israel,  and  that  Jehovah 
shall  be  known  in  the  execution  of  judgment.  The  re- 
maining chapters  of  the  section  consist  of  a  series  of 
oracles  against  Egypt.  Some  of  these  are  dated  within 
the  first  period  of  Ezekiel's  ministry  and  have  been 
touched  upon  in  the  previous  lesson.  Others  were  de- 
livered about  two  years  after  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  and 
one  bears  the  latest  date  given  in  Ezekiel's  book,  the 
twenty-seventh  year,  5  70  B.  c.  One  of  these  prophecies, 
ascribed  to  a  time  about  two  years  after  Jerusalem's  fall, 
is  a  remarkable  dirge  over  Pharaoh  and  his  army  descend- 
ing into  Sheol  to  join  Asshur  and  the  other  oppressors  of 
Israel.  The  weird  poem  might  well  be  styled  a  primi- 
tive Inferno.  Ezekiel's  vision  searched  the  entire  horizon 
of  contemporary  history  as,  with  a  wonderful  wealth  of 
Oriental  imagery,  he  pronounced  judgment  upon  strong 
cities  and  mighty  rulers.  A  true  prophet,  he  read  the 
complex  struggles  of  his  stirring  age  in  the  light  of  faith 
in  Jehovah,  the  just  ruler  of  nations. 


OBADIAH  AND  PROPHECIES  OF  EZEKIEL  93 

III.     ANALYSIS  OF  LESSON 
Obadiah. 

Destruction  of  Edom. — 1-16. 
Restoration  and  supremacy  of  Israel. — 17-21. 
Prophecies  of  Ezekiel  against  Foreign  Nations. — 25-32. 
Ammon,  Moab,  Edom,  Philistia. — 25. 
Tyre  (586  B.  c.).— 26-28  :  19. 
Zidon. — 28  :  20-23. 
Israel  restored. — 28  :  24-26. 
Egypt.— 29-32. 

(Shortly  before  fall  of  Egypt.— 29  : 1-16). 
Nebuchadnezzar  to  conquer  Egypt  (570  B.  C.). — 29 : 

17-21. 

(Shortly  before  fall  of  Jerusalem. — 30,31.) 
The  nation's  lament  over  Egypt  (584  B.  C.). — 32  :  I- 1 6. 
EzekiePs  dirge  for  Egypt. — 32  :  17-32. 

Home  Readings. — The  entire  Biblical  material  indicated  in  the 
above  analysis  may  easily  be  read  during  the  week,  or  the  follow- 
ing selections  may  be  made :  (i)  Ob.  1-16;  (2)  Ob.  17-21;  (3) 
Ezek.  25:12-17;  (4)  Ezek.  27:i-ii;  (5)  Ezek.  27 : 26-36 ;  (6) 
Ezek.  32:  1-16;  (7)  Ezek.  32;  17-32. 

IV.     POINTS  TO  BE  NOTED  IN  PREPARATION 

Conduct  of  Edom  at  time  of  Jerusalem's  capture  (Ob.  1 1-14 ; 
Ezek.  25:12);  Edom's  dwelling-place  (Ob.  3,  4);  the  day  of 
judgment  upon  the  nations  (Ob.  15,  16);  the  restored  remnant, 
(Ob.  17);  attitude  of  Judah's  neighbors  at  time  of  captivity  (Ezek. 
25 :  3,  8,  12,  15  ;  26  :  2)  ;  the  ship  of  state  (Ezek.  27  :  3ff.)  ;  latest 
date  given  in  (Ezek.  29 :  17) ;  dirge  over  Pharaoh  (Ezek.  32  :  19-32). 

V.     POINTS  FOR  REVIEW  IN  CLASS 

Probable  date  of  Obadiah ;  Obadiah 's  function ;  conduct  of 
Edom  at  the  fall  of  Jerusalem ;  home  of  Edom  ;  subjects  treated  by 


94       PROPHETS  OF  THE  EXILE  AND  RESTORATION 

Obadiah  ;  ground  of  Ezekiel's  condemnation  of  Ammon  and  Moab, 
of  Edom  and  the  Philistines,  of  Tyre ;  apprppriateness  of  picturing 
Tyre  as  a  ship;  hope  of  Ezekiel  expressed  in  prophecy  against 
Sidon ;  latest  date  in  Ezekiel ;  Ezekiel's  literary  power  as  seen  in 
dirge  over  Pharaoh ;  breadth  of  Ezekiel's  view ;  fundamental  prin- 
ciple in  Ezekiel's  view  of  the  nations ;  lessons  for  our  own  day  in 
prophecies  of  Obadiah  and  Ezekiel  against  foreign  nations. 


EZEKIEL  95 

LESSON  XVI 
EZEKIEL  (Second  Period) 

Suggestions  for  Review. — Time  of  Obadiah ;  substance  of  his 
message ;  conduct  of  Judah's  neighbors  as  pictured  by  Obadiah 
and  Ezekiel;  prophetic  principle  underlying  messages  of  doom 
upon  nations. 

I.     THE  PROPHET  AND  His  WORK 
The  second  period  of  Ezekiel' s  ministry  opens   six 
months  after  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  (January,  585  B.  c.)  and 
Th  M  extends  to  the  year  570.     The  prophet, 

whose  mouth  had  been  closed  before  the 
fall  of  the  city,  began  to  speak  again  when  the  announce- 
ment came  that  the  city  was  smitten.  The  fulfilment  of 
his  predictions  in  the  city's  fall  gave  him  great  reputa- 
tion among  his  fellow  exiles,  so  that  they  talked  of  him 
by  the  walls  and  in  the  doors  of  the  houses,  saying, 
"Come,  I  pray  you,  and  hear  what  is  the  word  that 
cometh  forth  from  Jehovah"  (33 : 30).  To  Ezekiel 
himself,  the  opening  of  the  new  stage  in  his  ministry  was 
marked  by  a  renewed  sense  of  his  pastoral  responsibility. 
This  prophet's  clear  vision  of  the  relation  of  the  individ- 
ual to  God  enabled  him  to  see  with  terrible  distinctness 
the  responsibility  of  one  who  had  been  charged  with  a 
message  of  warning.  To  him,  the  prophet  was  a  re- 
sponsible watchman  upon  whose  head  blood  would  rest  if 
he  failed  to  give  his  message  of  judgment  upon  the  sinner. 
The  heroic  character  of  the  true  prophet  is  strikingly 
exhibited  in  the  contrast  between  the  two  periods  of 


96       PROPHETS  OF  THE  EXILE  AND  RESTORATION 

Ezekiel's  preaching.  While  blind,  false  confidence  pre- 
vails, it  is  the  duty  of  the  prophet  t4>  show  that  Jehovah 
must  bring  judgment  upon  the  sinful.  This  is  indeed  a 
thankless  task  in  every  age,  and  one  that  engenders  hos- 
tility and  contempt.  When  the  crushing  blow  has  fallen, 
and  those  who  have  rested  their  confidence  on  emptiness 
lie  stunned  and  despairing,  it  becomes  the  prophet's  duty 
to  forget  his  own  grief  and  to  bring  hope  and  strength  to 
the  miserable  weaklings  whose  boastings  had  previously 
filled  all  ears.  Ezekiel  before  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  and 
Ezekiel  after  the  catastrophe  seem  different  men,  and  yet, 
when  understood  aright,  Ezekiel  is  seen  as  the  one  who 
stands  out  among  all  that  wretched  company  in  Babylon, 
truly  consistent.  The  same  convictions  that  made  him, 
in  the  earlier  period,  the  constant  messenger  of  doom, 
make  him,  in  the  later  time,  the  equally  constant  minister 
of  hope. 

In  the  second  period  of  the  prophet's  ministry,  the 
priestly  element  in  his  teaching  becomes  prominent. 
Earlier  prophets,  from  Amos  to  Jeremiah,  had  shown  lit- 
tle but  scorn  for  all  forms  of  worship.  Ezekiel's  hope  for 
restored  Israel  included  a  temple  more  elaborate  than 
that  of  Solomon,  together  with  a  rigid  observance  of 
formal  distinctions  in  religious  persons,  places,  things, 
and  times. 

Our  knowledge  of  the  life  of  Israel  in  Babylon  during 
the  twenty-six  years  from  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  to  the  last 

Th    U  ^ate  m  Ezekiel  *s  very  slight-     It  is  prob- 

able, however,  that  those  exiles  who  were 
carried  away  upon  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  were  subjected  to 


EZEKIEL  97 

much  harsher  treatment  than  those  deported  in  597. 
Nebuchadnezzar  continued  to  reign  till  several  years  after 
the  last  date  named  in  Ezekiel.  His  long  rule  was  an 
era  of  great  splendor  and  prosperity  for  Babylonia.  He 
rebuilt  the  city  of  Babylon  on  a  stupendous  scale.  He 
restored  and  extended  the  wonderful  system  of  canals  that 
gave  to  all  parts  of  the  land  fertility  and  easy  intercom- 
munication. Great  commercial  activity  prevailed,  and, 
doubtless,  many  of  the  foreign  exiles  brought  into  the 
community  were  needed  to  develop  its  agricultural  re- 
sources and  supply  food  products  for  its  teeming  popula- 
tion. Others  were  required  to  carry  out  Nebuchadnez- 
zar's great  building  enterprises.  Slight  references  in  the 
Biblical  writings  suggest  that  actual  enslavement  at  task 
labor  may  have  been  the  lot  of  many  among  the  Jewish 
exiles,  particularly  those  of  the  second  deportation.  Cer- 
tain it  is  that  great  discouragement  and  much  doubt  as 
to  Jehovah's  care  for  his  people  demanded  the  most  ear- 
nest efforts  of  the  great  priest-prophet. 

Ezekiel  had  foreseen  Jerusalem's  doom,  for  he  had 
known  her  wickedness  and  had  understood  the  righteous- 

T.  ..  ness  of  Jehovah.  He  now  foresees  her 

restoration,  for  he  trusts  absolutely  the 
mercy  of  Jehovah  toward  his  stricken  and  penitent  peo- 
ple. He  had  prepared  the  way  for  the  heavy  affliction 
by  teaching  that  Jehovah  was  in  Babylon  with  his  people 
and  that  each  individual  might  expect  recognition  before 
God's  justice,  independently  of  the  sin  of  his  nation,  and 
of  his  own  past  life.  Now,  when  nearly  all  outward  sym- 
bols of  Judah's  relation  to  Jehovah  are  obliterated,  and 


98        PROPHETS  OF  THE  EXILE  AND  RESTORATION 

the  people  are  surrounded  by  the  visible  symbols  of  dom- 
inant and  elaborate  heathen  worship,  if  any  are  to  be 
kept  faithful  to  Jehovah,  prophecy  must  speak  with  no 
uncertain  tones. 

The  prophet  reiterates  his  lessons  of  individual  respon- 
sibility, denounces  the  exiles  who  listen  to  his  words  as 
to  pleasant  music,  without  heeding  his  calls  to  righteous- 
ness, and  declares  that  the  former  rulers  have  been  evil 
shepherds,  but  that  Jehovah  will  shepherd  his  people  and 
give  them  a  prince  of  David's  house.  He  promises  that 
they  shall  be  restored  to  their  land  which  shall  be  popu- 
lous and  fertile,  while  they,  themselves,  shall  receive  a 
new  heart.  Terrible  nations  shall  attack  them  after  their 
restoration,  but  to  their  own  annihilation,  and  Jehovah 
shall  be  vindicated.  Near  the  close  of  his  ministry,  the 
prophet  commits  to  writing  visions  of  the  restored  city 
and  temple  and  plans  for  the  conduct  of  worship  there 
and  for  the  ideal  division  of  the  land  between  the  twelve 
tribes,  the  priests,  Levites,  and  prince.  This  priest- 
prophet,  living  when  almost  all  outward  forms  of  worship 
are  impossible,  knows  that  the  vision  of  a  religion  which 
is  purely  spiritual,  is  beyond  the  attainment  of  human 
nature  as  it  exists  about  him.  So  he  pictures,  in  splendid 
colors,  the  hope  of  a  renewal  of  those  visible  symbols 
without  which  men  lose  the  inner  life. 

Ezekiel's  visions  of  elaborate  ritual  largely  inspired, 
no  doubt,  the  development  of  the  priestly  distinctions 
of  Judaism,  for  which  later  generations  were  content  to 
die.  Ezekiel  thus  marks  the  transition  from  the  age 
of  pure  prophecy,  with  its  sole  emphasis  upon  the  spiritual 


EZEKIEL  99 

and  moral,  to  a  growing  sacerdotalism,  with  its  emphasis 
upon  distinctive  forms.  In  Ezekiel,  both  elements  of 
religion  are  marvelously  united. 

II.     ANALYSIS  OF  LESSON 

Israel  Restored — 33-48. 

The  Prophet's  Responsibility. — 33 :  1-9. 

The  Individual's  Responsibility. — 33  :  10-20. 

Message  on  Receipt  of  News  of  Jerusalem's  Fall. — 33 :  21-33. 

Restoration  Hopes. — 34-39. 

Promise  of  Davidic  prince. — 34. 

A  restored  land  and  a  new  heart. — 35,  36. 

The  nation  restored  to  life. — 37 :  1-14. 

Reunion  of  Judah  and  Israel  under  David. — 37:  15-28. 

Jehovah's  vindication  upon  distant  nations. — 38,  39. 
Restoration  Plans.— 40-48. 

The  new  temple  and  altar. — 40-43. 

The  new  priesthood. — 44. 

Allotment  of  land. — 45 :  1-8. 

Regular  provision  for  sacrifices. — 45  :  9-46. 

The  land  made  fertile  and  divided. — 47,  48. 

Home  Readings. — The  following  selections  from  the  above  out- 
line will  give  a  glimpse  of  some  of  the  leading  elements  in 
Ezekiel's  hopes  and  teachings  shortly  after  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem:  (i)  33:  1-9,  cf.  3:  16-21;  (2)  33:  10-20,  cf.  18;  (3) 
33:21-33;  (4)  36:  22-31;  (5)  37:  1-14;  (6)34:11-24;  (7)38: 
14-23. 

III.     POINTS  TO  BE  NOTED  IN  PREPARATION 

Extent  of  second  period  of  Ezekiel's  ministry  (33  :  21).  (The  date 
indicated  by  the  " twelfth  year"  is  January,  584,  but  the  reading 
«  eleventh  year,"  supported  by  some  manuscripts  of  the  Hebrew 
and  Greek  and  by  the  ancient  Syriac  translation,  is  far  more  proba- 


IOO      PROPHETS  OF  THE  EXILE  AND  RESTORATION 

ble)  (29:  17);  occasion  of  renewed  ministry  (33:  21,  22,  cf.  24: 
25)  ;  Ezekiel's  reputation  after  fall  of  Jerusalem  (33  :  30-32) ; 
Ezekiel's  own  feelings  at  opening  of  each  stage  .of  his  ministry 
(3  :  1 6-2 1 ;  33  :  7-9)  ;  Israel's  unfaithful  rulers  (34  :  1-3) ;  the  good 
shepherd  (34:  n,  12);  the  new  ruler  (34:  23,  24);  the  restored 
land  (36:  8-1 1):  the  renewed  people  (36:25-28;  37:  11-14; 
39:  28,  29);  Jehovah  vindicated  (39:  21-24);  Ezekiel's  emphasis 
upon  ritual,  see  "  Analysis  "  chapters  40-48. 

IV.     POINTS  FOR  REVIEW  IN  CLASS 

Years  included  in  second  period  of  Ezekiel's  ministry ;  occasion 
for  Ezekiel's  resuming  his  prophetic  ministry ;  effect  of  Jerusalem's 
fall  upon  Ezekiel's  reputation,  cf.  influence  of  Jerusalem's  deliver- 
ance in  701  B.  c.  upon  the  reputation  of  Isaiah;  Ezekiel's  appli- 
cation of  his  doctrine  of  individual  responsibility  to  himself;  sig- 
nificance of  reiteration  of  this  doctrine  in  chapter  33;  heroic 
element  seen  in  Ezekiel ;  Ezekiel's  consistency ;  was  Ezekiel 
strictly  a  prophet  ?  probable  fate  of  exiles  of  586  B.  c. ;  general 
character  of  Babylonian  history  during  first  thirty-five  years  of 
exile  ;  spirit  of  exiles  after  fall  of  Jerusalem  ;  real  basis  of  Ezekiel's 
certainty  of  doom  and  hope  ;  chief  elements  in  Ezekiel's  hopes  for 
future  ;  changed  conditions  that  demanded  a  priest-prophet,  rather 
than  an  Amos,  Hosea,  or  Isaiah ;  importance  of  Ezekiel's  priestly 
influence ;  what  are  the  true  elements  of  religion  as  taught  by  the 
great  prophets  from  Amos  to  Jeremiah  ?  are  outward  forms,  on 
which  Ezekiel  lays  so  much  stress,  important  in  the  present  age 
for  the  church  in  general  ?  for  ourselves  ? 


ISAJAH  101 

LESSON  XVII 

ISAIAH  40-55 

Suggestions  for  Review. — Time  and  occasion  of  second  period 
of  Ezekiel's  ministry ;  general  theme  of  teaching  in  this  period ; 
Ezekiel's  expectation  as  to  his  nation's  future ;  the  two  great  ele- 
ments of  Israel's  religion  that  were  combined  in  Ezekiel. 

I.     THE  PROPHET  AND  His  WORK 

The  prophecies  of  Isaiah  the  son  of  Amoz  were  closed 
with  the  historical  appendix,  Isaiah  36-39.  Chapters  40 ff. 

evidently  became  attached  to  this  collec- 
The  Man  J 

tion   at   a   later   time.     Isaiah   40-48   is 

commonly  regarded  as  belonging  to  the  later  years  of 
Babylon's  rule,  between  549  and  538  B.  c.  Chapters 
49-55  do  not  bear  as  strong  marks  of  their  historical  back- 
ground as  40-48,  but  they  probably  come  from  the  same 
hand  and  period. 

Of  the  personality  of  the  author,  it  is  difficult  to  ob- 
tain even  a  glimpse.  He  styles  himself  a  "  voice  "  and 
by  no  other  prophet  is  the  function  of  a  "  voice  "  speak- 
ing for  Jehovah  more  absolutely  realized.  As  we  read 
these  beautiful  messages,  our  thought  does  not  rest  upon 
the  speaker,  but  upon  the  God  of  power  and  mercy  who 
is  preparing  deliverance  for  the  hopeless  exiles.  The 
writer  has  been  called  "the  great  unknown, "  and  not 
the  least  great  of  his  attributes  is  his  power  to  transmit 
the  divine  word  as  through  a  perfect  crystal  which  does 
not  tinge  the  white  light  with  any  color  of  its  own. 


;102   '^  f  kp?#ETS<  OF  THE  EXtLE  AND  RESTORATION 

vj After,  the, long  reign  of  Nebuchadnezzar  ended,  few 
and  evil  were  the4 'days  of  the  thrdne  that  he  had  es- 
tablished.   Two  assassinations  and  usurpa- 

TfiA  Tim  AC 

tions  occurred  within  the  next  six  years, 
and  soon  the  rising  power  of  Cyrus  on  the  east  portended 
the  downfall  of  Babylon.  A  dozen  years  after  the  death 
of  Nebuchadnezzar,  this  new  ruler,  who  had  already 
united  the  Persian  tribes  under  his  sway,  conquered  and 
united  with  his  own  the  Median  kingdom,  to  the  north 
of  Babylonia.  During  the  next  few  years  the  strong 
kingdom  of  Lydia  in  western  Asia  Minor  and  other 
Asiatic  territory  fell  under  his  rule.  In  the  year  538, 
he  conquered  Babylon,  itself.  It  was  the  progress  of  this 
"shepherd"  and  " anointed"  one  of  Jehovah  that  un- 
stopped the  voice  of  prophecy,  silent  during  the  middle 
portion  of  the  exile.  The  Jews,  sadly  in  need  of  faith 
in  Jehovah  in  Ezekiel's  day,  now  doubted  the  power  of 
their  God  to  release  them.  The  Babylonian  deities, 
whose  splendid  worship  the  exiles  saw  about  them,  had 
clearly  given  the  victory  to  .the  oppressors  of  Jehovah's 
people.  While  Cyrus  is  still  in  the  distant  north  and  the 
last  king  of  Babylon  is  devoting  himself  to  restoring, 
with  splendid  pomp,  the  worship  of  Babylonia's  most 
ancient  gods,  the  voice  is  heard  of  one  that  crieth,  and 

the  words  fall  sweet  upon  the  ear,  "  Com- 

The  Message      _  _  .          .  . 

fort    ye,    comfort    ye    my   people,   saith 

your  God  ";  and  suddenly  there  seems  a  multitude  of 
heavenly  voices  crying,  "Prepare  ye  in  the  wilderness 
the  way  of  Jehovah."  "All  flesh  is  grass,  .  .  . 
but  the  word  of  our  God  shall  stand  forever."  "Be- 


ISAIAH  IO3 

hold,  the  Lord  Jehovah  will  come.  .  .  .  He  will 
feed  his  flock  like  a  shepherd.'1  In  splendid  lyric 
strain  the  song  goes  on  to  picture  the  power  of 
Jehovah  in  nature,  in  his  unique  Godhead,  and  in  his 
rule  over  the  nations.  With  scorn  it  declares  the  im- 
possibility of  representing  Him  that  sitteth  above  the 
circle  of  the  earth  in  image  of  wood  or  stone.  This 
God  will  give  power  to  faint  and  weary  Israel,  if  they 
will  but  wait  for  him.  He  it  is  who  has  raised  up 
Cyrus  and  sent  him  on  his  world-conquering  career. 
He  has  chosen  Israel,  his  servant,  and  is  still  Israel's 
God.  The  idol  gods  of  Babylon  have  neither  knowledge 
nor  power.  They  are  made  of  common  metal  or 
of  wood  such  as  one  burns,  and  they  must  needs  be 
carried  about,  while  Jehovah  bears  up  his  people  and 
will  bring  them  through  perils  of  land  and  flood,  safe 
back  to  their  native  land.  Proud  Babylon  is  doomed. 
Israel  shall  go  forth  from  her.  With  a  voice  of  singing, 
declare  it  to  the  end  of  the  earth,  Jehovah  hath  redeemed 
his  servant  Jacob.  Interwoven  with  these  prophecies, 
there  is  a  series  of  passages  concerning  some  wonderful 
"  servant"  of  Jehovah  who  is  to  set  justice  in  the  earth 
without  even  quenching  a  dimly  burning  wick.  He  will 
open  the  blind  eyes  and  bring  out  the  prisoners  from  the 
dungeon.  The  figure  of  this  servant  is  elusive.  He  is 
called  Israel,  yet  he  is  to  bring  Israel  back  unto  Jehovah. 
More  than  this,  he  is  to  be  a  light  unto  the  Gentiles, 
salvation  unto  the  ends  of  the  earth.  He  has  known  how 
to  bear  a  message  of  comfort  to  the  weary,  and  he  has 
submitted  himself  to  persecution  and  scorn.  Despised 


IO4   PROPHETS  OF  THE  EXILE  AND  RESTORATION 

and  rejected,  he  has  borne  the  griefs  and  sorrows  of 
others,  suffering  for  their  iniquitiep.  Therein  he  tri- 
umphs, for  he  pours  out  his  soul  unto  death. 

We  have  reached  in  these  " servant  passages"  the 
highest  and  most  divine  thought  that  human  language 
ever  uttered.  Prophecy  has  mounted  on  eagle  wings 
above  its  own  earlier  self,  when  it  has  attained  to  the  con- 
ception of  sacrifice  for  service  as  the  achievement  of 
Jehovah's  true  servant.  It  has  been  thought  that  the 
sufferings  of  Jeremiah,  or  of  the  prophets  generally,  may 
have  suggested  the  picture  of  the  servant.  Again,  the 
figure  has  been  interpreted  as  a  personification  of  Israel 
herself,  conceived  as  suffering  for  humanity.  Israel  is 
certainly  called  Jehovah's  servant  again  and  again  in 
Isaiah  40-55,  but,  as  we  have  seen,  the  servant  is  also 
distinguished  from  Israel  as  a  whole,  for  his  mission  is  to 
call  Israel  back.  Some  have  thought  accordingly  that 
the  servant  was  the  true  kernel  of  the  nation  whose  serv- 
ice was  to  restore  Israel  and  to  be  a  light  to  the  Gentiles. 

The  true  son  of  Israel  to-day,  when  his  nation  has 
lived  on  through  millenniums  more  of  scorn  and  rejection, 
counts  her  Jehovah's  suffering  servant,  scattered  abroad 
as  yet  to  prove  a  light  to  the  Gentiles.  The  Christian  finds 
the  ideal  perfectly  realized  in  Jesus,  the  Christ.  Both 
may  unite  in  seeking  to  make  this  ideal  supreme  for 
every  age.  Sacrifice,  in  the  service  of  humanity,  for  the 
sake  of  a  just  and  merciful  Father,  is  the  supreme  life- 
principle  of  Israel's  ancient  prophecy.  Sacrifice,  in  the 
service  of  humanity,  for  the  sake  of  a  just  and  merciful 
Father,  has  never  been  perfectly  realized  save  in  the  life 


ISAIAH  IO5 

and  death  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  To-day,  and  still  in 
ages  to  come,  this  life-principle  must  remain  God's  guid- 
ing star  for  humanity's  highest  achievement. 

II.     ANALYSIS  OF  LESSON 

Deliverance  of  Israel  through  Cyrus. — 40-48. 

Jehovah  to  lead  back  his  people. — 40,  41. 

The  servant. — 42 :  1-9. 

Jehovah  the  deliverer.— 42  :  IO-48. 
The  Assured  Restoration.— 49-55. 

The  servant. — 49 ;  1-3. 

Jehovah's  power  and  purpose  to  restore. — 49  :  14-50 :  3. 

The  servant.— 50 :  4-9  ( io,  1 1 ). 

Exultant  songs  of  coming  restoration. — 51-52  :  12. 

The  servant.— 52  :  13-53. 

Zion's  future  glory. — 54. 

Exhortation  to  prepare  for  deliverance. — 55. 

Home  Readings. — To  gain  an  adequate  appreciation  of  this  won- 
derful prophecy,  it  should  be  read  as  a  whole,  with  the  aid  of  the 
above  analysis.  The  following  selections  will,  however,  give  some 
taste  of  its  treasures  :  (i)  40 :  1-17  ;  (2)  41 :  8-20 ;  (3)  45 :  l-io;  (4) 
46;  (5)51:9-20;  (6)  42:  1-9;  49:1-6;  (7)50:4-9;  52:13-53. 

III.     POINTS  TO  BE  NOTED  IN  PREPARATION 

Some  indications  of  the  historical  background  of  Isaiah  40-55, 
(43:5,  6,  14;  47:i-n;  48:  14,  15,  20;  51:ii,  14;  52:3; 
40:2;  44:26;  51:  17,  19;  52 :  I,  2;  41  :  2-5 ;  45:1-4);  the 
people's  doubt  (40:27;  49:14,  24,  25);  Jehovah's  power  to 
deliver  (40:12-23;  46:l-n,  etc.);  his  purpose  to  deliver 
(43 :  1-7,  etc.)  ;  his  instrument  of  deliverance  (44  :  28;  45:  i);  the 
folly  of  idols  (44  :  12-17)  '•>  Babylon's  doom  (47  :  1-3) ;  the  service 
of  Jehovah's  servant  (42:  1-4,  7;  49:  5,  6;  50  .-4,  6;  53:  3-5); 
reason  for  his  glory  (53 :  12). 


IO6      PROPHETS  OF  THE  EXILE  AND  RESTORATION 

IV.  POINTS  FOR  REVIEW  IN  CLASS 
Relation  of  Isaiah  1-39  and  40ff. ;  personality  of  the  writer  of 
40-55;  his  conception  of  his  function;  political-  conditions  in 
Babylon  after  the  death  of  Nebuchadnezzar ;  rise  of  Cyrus ;  date 
of  his  conquest  of  Babylon ;  the  occasion  of  a  renewal  of  proph- 
ecy ;  condition  of  mind  of  the  exiles  at  time  of  renewal  of  proph- 
ecy; theme  of  the  message  by  which  the  prophet  seeks  to  rouse 
the  exiles ;  arguments  as  to  Jehovah's  power,  his  attitude  toward 
Israel ;  work  of  Cyrus  as  seen  by  the  prophet ;  the  character  and 
mission  of  Jehovah's  ideal  servant ;  how  far  was  the  ideal  realized  in 
Jeremiah,  in  the  prophets  as  a  whole,  in  Israel  or  the  faithful  kernel 
of  Israel  ?  has  it  ever  been  fully  realized  ?  has  this  ideal  any  re- 
lation to  our  personal  lives  ?  does  the  Bible  or  any  literature  con- 
tain any  loftier  thought  than  that  of  the  servant  passages  of  Isaiah 
40-55  ?  compare  this  thought  with  the  ideals  of  the  writers  of 
Greece,  Rome,  England,  America,  or  any  other  nation ;  apply  it  to 
our  daily  living. 


HAGGAI  IO7 

LESSON  XVIII 
HAGGAI 

Suggestions  for  Review. — Date  and  historical  occasion  of  Isaiah 
40-55 ;  great  themes  of  these  chapters  exclusive  of  servant  pas- 
sages ;  elements  in  the  picture  of  Jehovah's  ideal  servant. 

I.  THE  PROPHET  AND  His  WORK 
In  passing  to  the  study  of  Haggai,  the  scene  changes 
from  Babylon  back  to  Jerusalem.  Some  eighteen  years 
have  passed  since  Cyrus  annexed  Baby- 
lonia to  the  Medo-Persian  empire.  Under 
his  tolerant  rule  the  Jews  have  been  permitted  to  begin 
rebuilding  their  city,  but  they  have  not  restored  the 
temple.  Haggai  is  moved  with  an  intense  zeal  for  the  re- 
building of  the  sanctuary.  Like  the  prophets  of  old,  he 
sees  the  vital  need  of  his  day,  and  addresses  himself  to  it 
with  inspired  devotion.  As  far  as  we  can  gather  from 
the  remains  of  Haggai ?s  addresses,  he  is  a  man  of  a 
direct  and  practical  nature  who  knows  how  to  get  things 
done.  He  appeals,  at  first,  to  those  motives  that  will  be 
most  apt  to  rouse  the  governor,  high  priest  and  people  to 
undertake  the  work  toward  which  they  are  as  yet  apathetic. 
When  their  spirit  has  been  stirred  and  the  work  begun 
and  they  have  become  discouraged  in  its  midst,  because 
of  their  meager  ability,  this  practical  leader  of  men 
encourages  them  with  a  vision  of  the  future  glories  which 
shall  flow  from  their  endeavor.  Haggai  presents  a  very 
strong  contrast  to  the  great  poet-souls  among  the  proph- 


IO8      PROPHETS  OF  THE  EXILE  ANt)  RESTORATION 

ets  who  saw  within  the  veil  and  revealed,  for  their  own 
day  and  all  time,  the  loftiest  truths  ftiat  the  human  soul 
can  apprehend ;  but  he  accomplished  for"  his  day  the 
work  that,  just  then,  was  most  necessary. 

Cyrus  founded  a  vast  empire  on  the  basis  of  the  larg- 
est measure  of  local  freedom  consistent  with  a  united 
domain.  His  successor,  Cambyses,  added 
Egypt  to  the  great  Asiatic  possessions  of 
Cyrus.  A  usurper  then  seized  the  throne  which  was 
soon  taken  from  him  by  Darius  Hystaspis.  Many  parts 
of  the  empire  were  now  in  revolt  and  their  complete  sub- 
jugation required  four  years  of  vigorous  effort  on  the  part 
of  Darius.  It  was  during  this  time  of  uncertainty,  in 
the  second  year  of  Darius,  that  Haggai's  first  address 
was  delivered  (September,  520  B.  c.).  It  is  not  im- 
probable that  the  general  restlessness  of  the  empire  had 
stirred  Jerusalem  and  that  the  prophet  took  advantage  of 
this  to  direct  the  hopes  and  energies  of  rulers  and  people 
toward  the  building  of  the  temple.  The  little  commu- 
nity in  Jerusalem  had  experienced  great  want  and  hard- 
ship while  trying  to  wrest  a  livelihood  from  the  de- 
nuded and  desolate  land  upon  which  the  neighboring 
tribes  had  sadly  encroached  during  the  years  of  exile. 
The  rebuilt  Jerusalem  was,  as  yet,  but  a  collection  of 
dwellings,  without  protecting  walls.  The  local  governor 
of  the  wretched  community  was  Zerubbabel,  grandson  of 
King  Jehoiachin,  and  the  high  priest  was  Joshua,  grand- 
son of  the  priest  Seriah  whom  Nebuchadnezzar  had  exe- 
cuted after  the  capture  of  Jerusalem. 

The  prophet's  message  is  addressed,  in  the  first  instance, 


HAGGAI 

to  Zerubbabel  and  Joshua,  but  the  people  are  evidently 

included  in  its  intent,  for  he  reminds  them 
The  Message 

that   they   dwell   in   ceiled  houses   while 

Jehovah's  house  lies  waste.  He  refers  to  the  hardships 
and  disappointments  that  they  have  experienced  and 
declares  them  providential  visitations  because  they  have 
attended  to  their  own  houses,  rather  than  Jehovah's.  In 
three  weeks'  time,  encouraged  by  Haggai's  assurance 
that  Jehovah  is  with  them  in  the  undertaking,  they 
begin  to  build.  A  month  passes  and  the  people  are  dis- 
couraged as  they  see  how  inferior  this  temple  will  be  to 
its  predecessor,  in  the  erection  of  which  Solomon  had 
commanded  the  resources  of  a  kingdom,  and  had  even 
secured  foreign  material  and  skill.  Now,  the  apparently 
prosaic  prophet  bursts  forth  into  glowing  pictures  of  the 
glory  that  Jehovah  will  bring  to  the  poor  structure 
raised  in  his  honor.  The  latter  glory  of  the  house  shall 
be  greater  than  the  former ;  here  peace  shall  abide.  Two 
months  more  of  labor  go  by,  and,  again,  the  prophet 
appeals  to  the  people.  This  time  he  argues  from  a 
principle  of  ceremonial  uncleanness  to  show  how  the  lack 
of  a  temple  has  necessarily  caused  the  evil  estate  of  the 
people ;  but  henceforth,  Jehovah's  blessing  is  assured. 
A  second  time  on  the  same  day  he  speaks,  and  this  time 
it  is  to  apply  the  old  hope  in  the  Davidic  line  to  its  pres- 
ent representative,  Zerubbabel,  whom  Jehovah  has 
chosen  as  a  signet  ring. 

Here  the  voice  of  Haggai  becomes  silent,  but  the 
temple  building,  which  he  had  inaugurated,  goes  for- 
ward during  four  years,  in  the  face  of  opposition  and  dis- 


I IO      PROPHETS  OF  THE  EXILE  AND  RESTORATION 

couragement,  until  it  is  brought  to  a  successful  issue. 
Around  this  little  building,  that  rose,  Jthus,  out  of  poverty 
and  discouragement,  centered,  for  five  long  centuries, 
the  worship  of  a  God  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in 
the  heavens. 

II.     ANALYSIS  OF  LESSON 

Opening  Message   (Second  year  of  Darius,  sixth  month,  first 

day),  Sept.,   520  B.  c. — 1  :  i-n. 

Work  Begun  (sixth  month,  twenty-fourth  day). — 1 :  12-15. 
Message  of  Encouragement  (seventh  month,  twenty-first  day). — 

2: 1-9. 
Message  of  Instruction  and  Hope  (ninth  month,  twenty-fourth 

day). — 2 :  10-19. 
The  Davidic  Prince  (ninth  month,  twenty-fourth  day). — 2  :  20-23. 

Home  Readings. — The  above  analysis  will  give  a  convenient 
division  for  five  daily  readings.  The  following  passages  are  sug- 
gested for  the  remaining  days  of  the  week  (i)  Ezra  5:  1-5;  6: 
14,  15  ;  (2)  Ezra  6  : 1-5. 

III.      POINTS   TO   BE   NOTED   IN   PREPARATION 

The  motives  to  which  Haggai  makes  his  first  appeal  (1 :  4,  8-1 1) ; 
the  attitude  of  the  people  toward  the  work  (1:2);  the  motive  to 
which  Haggai  appeals  later  (2 :  5-9)  ;  the  hard  experiences  of  the 
Judsean  community  prior  to  520  B.  c.  (1 :  10,  1 1 ;  2 : 15-19) ;  Haggai's 
view  of  the  cause  of  the  hardships  (1 :  9 ;  2  : 1 1-14)  ;  the  people's  dis- 
couragement (2:3);  expectation  for  future  glory  of  temple  (2 :  6-9)  ; 
hope  in  Davidic  representative  (2 :  23). 

IV.     POINTS  FOR  REVIEW  IN  CLASS 

Scene  of  Haggai's  ministry  ;  time  of  ministry ;  Haggai's  pur- 
pose ;  the  strongest  characteristics  of  Haggai ;  the  motives  to 


HAGGAI  1 1 1 

which  he  appeals;  attitude  of  the  people  before  Haggai's  work, 
after  work  has  been  begun;  contrast  between  Haggai  and  the 
greatest  of  the  prophets;  outline  of  Persian  history  from  538-520 ;  sig- 
nificance of  the  time  chosen  by  Haggai  for  his  endeavor;  con- 
dition of  Jerusalem  at  opening  of  Haggai's  mission ;  the  local 
rulers  in  Jerusalem;  Haggai's  interpretation  of  hardships  ex- 
perienced ;  effect  of  Haggai's  first  message ;  cause  of  later  dis- 
couragement; substance  of  the  prophet's  message  of  encourage- 
ment ;  the  Messianic  hope  of  Haggai ;  lessons  to  be  drawn  from  the 
noticeable  variety  in  the  character  and  abilities  of  Jehovah's 
prophets;  lessons  from  the  building  of  the  second  temple  out  of 
poverty  and  weakness. 


I  I  2       PROPHETS  OF  THE  EXILE  AND  RESTORATION 

LESSON  XIX  1 
ZECHARIAH 

Suggestions  for  Review. — Occasion  of  Haggai's  prophecy  ; 
effect  of  his  work;  differences  between  Haggai  and  other 
prophets. 

I.     THE  PROPHET  AND  His  WORK 

The  narrative  in  Ezra  associates  the  name  of  Zechariah, 
the  son  of  Iddo,  with  that  of  Haggai  in  the  work  of  re- 
Th  M  building  the  temple,  and  the  dates  given 
in  the  book  of  Zechariah  show  that  he 
worked,  in  part,  contemporaneously  with  Haggai.  His 
first  message  was  delivered  in  the  eighth  month,  between 
Haggai's  promise  to  the  discouraged  builders  and  his  last 
prophecies.  The  next  date  given  in  Zechariah  is  two 
months  later  than  the  last  in  Haggai,  while  his  last 
prophecies  are  ascribed  to  a  time  when  the  temple 
builders  have  been  at  work  a  little  more  than  two  years. 
Zechariah' s  symbolic  imagery,  reminding  us  of  that 
of  Ezekiel,  is  in  marked  contrast  to  the  plain,  matter-of-fact 
utterances  of  his  fellow  laborers.  Indeed,  Haggai  and 
Zechariah  must  have  supplemented  each  other  admirably 
in  the  work  that  they  accomplished  together.  There 
seems  every  reason  to  regard  Haggai  as  a  layman,  but 
Zechariah  was,  like  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel,  of  priestly 
family,  being  the  son  of  the  priest  Iddo  who  returned 
from  Babylon  with  Zerubbabel  and  Joshua. 

The  revolts  throughout  the  empire,  that,  in  all  prob- 


ZECHARIAH  1 1  3 

ability,    led   the  Jews   to  hope   for   independence   and 

caused    them    to    lend   a   ready   ear   to 
The  Times  ,.    . 

Haggai  s    predictions  as   to   Zerubbabel, 

were  temporarily  quelled,  soon  after  the  temple  build- 
ing began.  With  this  quenching  of  excited  expectations, 
the  temple  builders  must  have  felt  again  that  the  time 
had  not  yet  come  for  accomplishing  their  work. 

At  this  juncture,  Zechariah  delivered  his  series  of 
visions  to  urge  forward  their  great  labor.  His  first  oracle 

_.  ..  had  been  a  warning  to  his  generation 

drawn  from  the  sad  fate  of  their  disobe- 
dient fathers,  framed  in  the  simplest  of  speech ;  now  he 
adopts  elaborate  symbolism  to  interest  and  impress  his 
hearers.  The  first  vision,  that  of  the  angelic  horsemen, 
recognizes  the  existing  peace  which  seems  so  contrary  to 
Haggai 's  prediction  that  soon  Jehovah  would  shake  the 
nations,  and  so  destructive  to  the  hope  that  Israel  would 
become  independent  under  Zerubbabel.  The  prophet  is 
undismayed  by  the  situation  and  gives  firmest  assurance 
that  Jehovah  is  displeased  with  the  nations  which  are  at 
ease,  that  he  has  returned  to  Jerusalem,  that  the  temple 
shall  be  rebuilt,  and  that  the  cities  of  Judah  shall  yet 
overflow  with  prosperity.  The  vision  fades  into  another, 
wherein  the  prophet  sees  four  horns,  symbols  of  the  na- 
tions that  have  scattered  Judah,  and  four  smiths  who  are 
to  cast  down  the  horns  of  these  nations.  The  third 
vision  is  the  sequel  of  the  first.  A  young  man  goes 
forth  to  mark  out  the  boundaries  of  the  restored  Jeru- 
salem ;  he  is  taught  that  the  city  of  the  future  is  not  to 
be  a  narrowly  walled  fortress ;  but  a  great,  wide-spread- 


1 14      PROPHETS  OF  THE  EXILE  AND  RESTORATION 

ing  community,  for  which  Jehovah  himself  will  be  a  wall 
of  fire  round  about.  The  vision  fc  followed  by  a  song 
urging  the  exiles  to  come  back  from  Babylon  to  Jeru- 
salem, where  Jehovah  is  to  dwell  and  where  many  nations 
shall  come  to  join  themselves  to  him.  The  old  doctrine 
that  Haggai  had  adopted,  the  doctrine  that  material  mis- 
fortune is  the  sign  of  divine  disapproval,  weighed  heavily 
upon  the  people  for  whom  prosperity  delayed  her  coming 
so  long.  The  next  vision  symbolized  Jehovah's  forgive- 
ness and  removal  of  the  people's  sin.  Joshua,  the  high 
priest,  stood  clothed  in  filthy  rags,  the  garment  of  the 
people's  sin,  accused  before  Jehovah  by  the  adversary ; 
then  exonerated  and  clothed  with  new  garments.  Obe- 
dience to  Jehovah  is  declared  to  be  all  that  is  necessary 
to  bring  in  the  promised  Messianic  age.  The  vision  of  the 
golden  candlestick,  which  follows,  seems  to  typify  the 
inpouring  of  the  divine  Spirit  through  the  civil  and  re- 
ligious heads  of  the  restored  community,  making  the 
completion  of  the  temple  possible.  This  great  work  is  to 
be  brought  to  a  successful  conclusion  under  Zerubbabel, 
not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by  Jehovah's  Spirit. 
The  sixth  vision  reiterates  the  teaching  of  Ezekiel  that 
henceforth  the  curse  of  sin  shall  fall  upon  the  sinner  and 
not  on  the  community  as  a  whole.  The  next  vision  rep- 
resents wickedness  shut  up  in  a  great  measuring  vessel 
and  borne  away  from  Palestine  to  Babylon.  Not  only 
the  curse  of  sin,  but  sin  itself,  is  removed  from  the  com- 
munity laboring  faithfully  to  fulfil  God's  behest.  The 
eighth  and  last  vision  bears  a  certain  resemblance  to  the 
first  in  its  symbolism  of  horses  going  beyond  the  confines  of 


ZECHARIAH  1 1  5 

Palestine.  In  the  first,  however,  the  horsemen  brought 
news  of  peace  throughout  the  world,  while,  in  this,  the 
horses  are  attached  to  war  chariots  and  go  forth  to  exe- 
cute vengeance,  especially  upon  Persia.  Thus,  the  vi- 
sions center  in  the  hope  of  a  glorious  future  for  Jerusalem, 
with  its  temple  restored,  its  enemies  destroyed,  its  exiles 
returned,  its  sin  forgiven,  its  wickedness  removed,  and 
with  Jehovah's  Spirit  flowing  in  through  priest  and  prince 
of  Davidic  line.  The  visions  lead  on  to  the  symbolic 
crowning  of  the  living  Davidic  representative,  as  the 
promised  ruler. 

In  the  oracles  that  follow,  the  prophet  turns  from  sym- 
bolism of  vision  and  of  act  to  simple  practical  exhorta- 
tion and  encouraging  promises.  His  exhortation  repeats 
the  old  message  of  the  earliest  writing  prophets,  the  mes- 
sage of  justice,  mercy,  and  truth,  rather  than  ceremonial. 
His  promise  repeats  the  picture  of  restored  Jerusalem,  a 
city  of  wondrous  peace,  whither  the  nations  of  the  world 
come  to  seek  Jehovah. 

The  message  of  Zechariah  is  rich  and  full,  for  the 
prophet  has  drunk  deep  from  the  well-springs  of  earlier 
prophecy.  He  has  caught  the  ethical  truth  of  Israel's 
great  eighth  century  prophets  and  has  enriched  it  by  the 
spiritual  insight  of  Jeremiah  and  the  glorious  hopes  of 
the  exilic  prophets.  His  symbolism,  to  be  sure,  does 
not  appeal  to  our  present-day  modes  of  thought  as  illu- 
minating. The  pictorial  form  of  the  teaching,  however, 
doubtless  made  his  message  impressive  to  the  men  of  his 
own  generation  to  whom  the  symbols  were  familiar,  bor- 
rowed, as  they  were,  from  Ezekiel  or,  like  Ezekiel's, 


1 1 6      PROPHETS  OF  THE  EXILE  AND  RESTORATION 

adopted  from  the  impressive  outward  features  of  the  life 
of  the  day. 

Haggai  labored  simply  to  get  the  temple  'built.  Zech- 
ariah  cooperated  in  this  great  work  and  also  impressed 
upon  the  builders  those  moral  and  spiritual  truths  with- 
out which  the  temple  and  its  worship  would  be  hollow 
mockery. 

II.     ANALYSIS  OF  LESSON 

Lessons     from     the     Past     (second     year    of    Darius,    eighth 

month). — 1 :  1-6. 

Symbolic   Visions    (second  year   of  Darius,  eleventh  month), 
-1:7-6:8. 

The  angelic  horsemen. — 1 :  7-17. 

The  four  horns  and  their  destruction. — 1 :  1 8-2 1. 

The  man  measuring  Jerusalem. — 2 :  1-5. 

Song  of  the  restoration. — 2:  6-13. 

The  high  priest  and  Satan.— 3. 

The  candlestick  and  olive-trees. — 4. 

The  flying  roll. — 5  :  1-4. 

Wickedness  shut  up  in  an  ephah  measure. — 5:  5-11. 

The  four  chariots. — 6  :  1-8. 
Symbolic  Crowning  of  the  Prince. l — 6  :  9-15. 
Right  Conduct  vs.  Ceremonialism. — 7. 
The  Glorious  Future  of  Jerusalem. — 8. 

Chapters  9-14  are  not  included  in  the  present  study.  It  is  gen- 
erally agreed  among  Old  Testament  scholars  that  they  form  a  sep- 

1  The  text  of  this  passage  has  clearly  suffered  corruption.  As 
it  stands,  it  is  impossible  to  find  any  reference  for  "  both  "  at  the 
end  of  verse  13.  We  should  probably  read  "Zerubbabel"  for 
"Joshua  "  in  verse  1 1,  and  "  shall  be  priest  on  his  right  hand" 
(referring  to  Joshua)  for  "  shall  sit  and  rule  upon  his  throne  " 
(verse  13).  For  discussion,  see  George  Adam  Smith,  "  Book  of 
the  Twelve  Prophets,"  II,  309. 


ZECHARIAH 

arate  and  anonymous  prophecy,  or  collection  of  prophecies.  They 
cannot  be  dated  with  certainty,  but  probably  belong  to  a  time  long 
after  that  of  Zechariah. 

Home  Readings. — The  entire  eighth  chapter  should  be  read  with 
the  summary  of  the  visions  given  under  "  The  Message  "  and  the 
above  "  Analysis  "  as  a  guide,  or  the  following  typical  passages 
may  be  selected :  (i)l:  i-6;(2)2:  1-13;  (3)  3;  (4)  4;  (5)  5:  i-U  ; 
(6)  7;  (7)  8. 

III.     POINTS  TO  BE  NOTED  IN  PREPARATION 

Relation  of  Haggai  and  Zechariah  (Ezra  5:1;  6:14;  Hag. 
2  :  I  ;  Zech.  1 :  I ;  Hag.  2 :  10 ;  Zech.  1 :  7  ;  7  :  i) ;  Zechariah's  fam- 
ily (Neh.  12:  1-4,  12,  16) ;  moral  and  spiritual  preparation  for 
the  glorious  future  taught  in  the  visions ;  Zechariah's  expectation 
of  the  "  Branch  "  (6 :  12)  ;  moral  requirements  of  Jehovah  (7 :  9, 10; 
8  :  1 6,  17) ;  Jerusalem's  future  (8  :  3-5,  12,  22,  23) ;  emphasis  upon 
presence  of  Spirit  (4:6,  7). 

IV.     POINTS  FOR  REVIEW  IN  CLASS 

The  relation  of  Haggai  and  Zechariah  as  stated  in  Ezra,  as  indi- 
cated in  the  dates  attached  to  their  prophecies  ;  differences  in  the 
methods  of  the  two ;  the  family  of  Zechariah,  of  Haggai ;  cause 
for  discouragement  of  temple  builders  found  in  conditions  of  Per- 
sian empire  ;  historical  occasion  for  Zechariah's  visions ;  subject  of 
Zechariah's  first  prophecy ;  teaching  of  the  visions  as  to  Israel's 
enemies,  as  to  the  moral  and  spiritual  conditions  necessary  in  the 
city  of  Jehovah's  abode,  as  to  the  glories  of  Jerusalem's  future;  re- 
lation of  first  and  last  visions  ;  meaning  of  the  symbolic  crowning ; 
Zechariah's  estimate  of  relative  value  of  ceremonial  and  moral  con- 
duct ;  his  ideal  for  Jerusalem,  for  the  nations  ;  the  real  breadth  and 
depth  of  Zechariah's  work  compared  with  that  of  Haggai ;  the  use 
of  the  practical  man  of  affairs  in  God's  work,  illustrated  from 
Haggai ;  the  danger  of  the  mere  man  of  affairs,  illustrated  from  a 
comparison  of  Haggai  and  Zechariah  (note  especially  the  motives 
to  which  each  appealed). 


1 1 8      PROPHETS  OF  THE  EXILE  AND  RESTORATION 


LESSON  XX   3 
flALACHI 

Suggestions  for  Review. — The  especial  work  of  Zechariah ;  his 
method  of  teaching;  his  teaching  as  to  morals,  spiritual  power, 
the  future  of  Jerusalem,  the  future  of  Jehovah's  religion. 

I.  THE  PROPHET  AND  His  WORK 
The  title  Malachi  means  my  messenger.  It  is  prob- 
ably not  a  proper  name,  but  suggested  by  3  :  i.  Haggai 
is  once  designated  as  Jehovah's  malach, 
messenger  (Hag.  1:13).  The  author  of 
this  prophecy  labored,  it  would  seem,  shortly  before  the 
great  reform  of  Nehemiah  and  Ezra,  preparing  the  way 
for  their  rigorous  measures  in  repression  of  foreign  mar- 
riages and  in  providing  for  the  suitable  maintenance  of 
temple  worship.  The  manner  of  his  teaching  is  very  dif- 
ferent from  that  of  any  earlier  prophet  and  suggests  that 
of  Israel's  later  rabbinical  teachers.  It  is  not  the  orator 
and  poet,  or  the  seer  of  strange  visions,  who  speaks  in 
Malachi,  but  the  methodical  teacher  who  states  each  time 
a  general  principle,  then  raises  a  possible  objection,  and, 
in  meeting  this,  illustrates  his  principle  by  concrete  ex- 
amples which  lead  into  the  personal  application  of  his 
truth.  The  method  is  rigid  and  prosaic,  but  it  makes 
the  truth  clear  and  impressive. 

In  spirit  "  Malachi  "  rises  as  a  true  prophet  of  old 
above  the  despair  and  indifference  of  his  contemporaries, 
and,  with  a  reformer's  zeal,  attacks  the  sin  of  the  people 


MALACHI  119 

and  of  the  religious  authorities  of  his  day.  Yet,  he  is  no 
narrow  reformer,  for,  in  the  midst  of  his  teachings,  we 
come  upon  an  utterance  that  almost  staggers  us  by  its 
breadth.  He  recognizes  that  there  is  worship  among  the 
Gentiles  which,  in  its  sincerity,  is  acceptable  to  Jehovah.1 
After  the  last  message  of  Zechariah,  some  seventy  years 
pass  by  to  which  we  cannot  ascribe,  with  certainty,  any 
prophetic  utterance.  These  years  must 
have  been  marked  by  deep  disappoint- 
ment. The  temple  had  been  completed  and  yet  the 
precious  things  of  all  nations  had  not  been  poured  into 
Jerusalem,  nor  had  the  anticipations  roused  by  Haggai 
and  Zechariah  for  the  glorious  rule  of  a  son  of  David 
been  realized.  The  little  community  enjoyed  a  large 
measure  of  local  freedom,  but  still  it  was  subject  to  a 
foreign  power,  and  had  to  meet  its  burden  of  taxation  to 
a  foreign  government.  The  people  may  have  made  some 
attempt  to  reconstruct  the  city's  walls  after  completing 
the  temple,  but,  if  so,  the  attempt  had  proved  unsuccess- 
ful and  Jerusalem  lay  open,  incapable  of  defense.  The 
half  heathen  Samaritan  neighbors  on  the  north  were,  ap- 
parently, stronger  and  more  prosperous  than  the  Jews. 

1  In  the  Hebrew  the  tense  is  present  throughout  I  :  II.  Our 
English  versions  vary  between  translating  it  literally  and  changing 
to  a  future,  interpreting  the  present  as  a  vivid  anticipation  of  the 
future  Messianic  age.  If  we  are  justified  in  understanding  the 
present  literally,  the  passage  is  an  anticipation  of  the  splendid 
catholicity  seen  a  little  later  in  the  author  of  Jonah.  If  the  passage 
is  merely  predictive,  it  still  shows  the  writer's  breadth  of  view  to 
be  great,  for  he  recognizes  that  the  Gentiles  will  be  able  to  make 
acceptable  offerings  to  Jehovah  in  every  place  and  not  exclusively 
in  Jerusalem. 


I  2O       PROPHETS  OF  THE  EXILE  AND  RESTORATION 

Indeed,  many  of  the  Jews  were  divorcing  their  wives  in 
order  to  make  favorable  marriage  lalliances  with  their 
neighbors.  The  prophet's  statement  that  Jehovah  loved 
Israel  was  met  with  scepticism.  To  the  people,  it  seemed 
that  Jehovah  favored  the  man  who  did  evil,  rather  than 
the  just  man.  They  declared  that  it  was  vain  to  serve 
God  and  that  no  profit  came  to  them  because  they  had 
kept  his  charge.  With  such  scepticism  prevailing,  it 
is  not  strange  that  the  worship  rendered  to  Jehovah  was 
half-hearted.  The  priests  offered  polluted  bread  upon 
the  altar,  and  presented  in  sacrifice  blind,  lame,  and  sick 
animals,  such  as  they  would  not  dare  to  present  to  their 
Persian  governor.  The  people  kept  back  a  part  of  their 
tithes,  thus  robbing  God  of  his  portion. 

In  such  a  time  the  prophet  lived,  and  to  these  disheart- 
ening conditions  he  addressed  himself,  trying,  line  upon 

line,  to  teach  Jehovah's  love,  to  impress 
The  Message  ,         ,       ..  .  U1.      .  ,    4 

moral   and   religious   obligations   and  to 

warn  of  judgment  to  come.  In  the  contrasted  lot  of 
Israel  and  Edom,  he  finds  proof  of  Jehovah's  care  for 
his  people.  By  a  comparison  between  the  offerings  made 
to  Jehovah  and  to  the  governor,  or  between  Israel's  faith- 
less worship  and  the  sacrifice  of  sincere  Gentiles,  he  seeks 
to  make  plain  the  sin  of  the  priests.  In  the  light  of 
God's  fatherhood  of  Israel,  he  interprets  the  villainy  of 
the  prevalent  divorce,  and  marriage  with  the  daughter  of 
a  strange  god.  Indeed,  his  teaching  on  the  subject  of 
divorce  is  second  only  to  that  of  Jesus.  In  firm  faith 
that  Jehovah  does  rule  in  the  affairs  of  men  and  does  re- 
quire right  conduct  among  them,  he  denounces  the  seep- 


MALACHI  121 

ticism  of  his  day,  and  gives  assurance  that  a  book  of  re- 
membrance is  written  before  God  for  them  that  fear  him. 
The  prophets  of  the  early  years  of  restoration  exulted 
in  the  thought  that  Israel's  sin  had  been  purged  away  by 
her  exile  and  that  now  her  glorious  hopes  were  to  be 
realized  in  fullest  measure.  In  Malachi's  day,  the  years 
have  shown  that  sin  still  dwells  in  the  people,  and  the 
new  prophet  of  righteousness  sees  that  the  process  of 
separation  between  the  righteous  remnant  and  the  sinful 
must  go  on.  The  day  of  Jehovah's  judgment,  the  day 
that  shall  consume  the  wicked,  root  and  branch,  is  yet  to 
come.  But,  to  those  who  fear  Jehovah's  name,  the  sun 
of  righteousness  shall  arise  with  healing  in  its  -wings. 
In  the  meantime,  duty  lies  in  observing  the  law.  Before 
the  great  and  terrible  day  of  Jehovah  comes,  prophecy 
shall  return,  in  the  spirit  of  its  first  great  representative,  to 
make  the  effort  for  man's  conversion  before  the  curse  falls. 

II.     ANALYSIS  OF  LESSON 
Title.— I :  I. 

Jehovah's  Love. — 1:  2-5. 
Unworthy  Priests. — 1 :  6-2  :  9. 
Heathen  Intermarriage  and  Divorce. — 2 :  10-16. 
Scepticism. — 2;  iy-3  :  6. 

Robbing  Jehovah  in  Heave  Offerings  and  Tithes. — 3:  7-12. 
Scepticisms. — 3:  13-15. 
The  Book  of  Remembrance. — 3  :  1 6,  17. 
The  Great  and  Terrible  Day.— 4. 

Home  Readings. — The  prophecy  may  be  assigned  to  the  days  of 
the  week  as  follows:  (i)  1;  1-5;  (2)  1 :  6-2  :  9;  (3)  2;  10-16;  (4) 
2:  17-3:6;  (5)3:7-12;  (6)3:  13-17;  (7)4. 


122       PROPHETS  OF  THE  EXILE  AND  RESTORATION 

III.     POINTS  TO  BE  NOTED  IN  PREPARATION 

Abuses  attacked  by  Malachi  compared  with  those  attacked  by 
Nehemiah  and  Ezra  (Neh.  10:  30;  13  :  23-^31 ;  Ezra  9:2;  10  :  3 ; 
16-44)  5  Malachi's  catholicity  (1 :  1 1)  ;  heathen  marriages  (2  :  1 1)  ; 
divorce  prevalent  (2:  14)  ;  doubt  as  to  Jehovah's  love  for  Israel 
(1 :  2) ;  Jehovah  favorable  to  wicked  (2 ;  17 ;  3  :  14,  15) ;  unworthy 
service  of  Jehovah  (1:7,8;  3:  10)  ;  the  prophet's  insistence  on 
Jehovah's  love  for  Israel  (1 :  2-4) ;  his  teaching  as  to  unworthy 
offerings  (1 :  8-1 1 ;  3:7,8);  teaching  as  to  divorce  (2  :  10,  14-16)  ; 
Jehovah's  care  for  those  that  fear  him  (3  :  16,  17;  4:  2)  ;  Jeho- 
vah's judgment  yet  to  come  (4:  I,  6)  ;  emphasis  on  keeping  law 
(4:4);  prophetic  warning  before  the  great  and  terrible  day  (4  :  5). 

IV.     POINTS  FOR  REVIEW  IN  CLASS 

Meaning  of  title  Malachi ;  probable  date  of  prophecy ;  relation 
of  this  prophet's  work  to  that  of  Nehemiah  and  Ezra  ;  difference  in 
method  of  teaching  between  Malachi  and  earlier  prophets;  the 
prophetic  spirit  of  the  writer ;  his  breadth  of  view ;  discouraging 
experiences  between  time  of  Zechariah  and  that  of  Malachi; 
dangerous  social  tendency  in  Malachi's  time ;  skeptical  views  of 
the  age ;  character  of  worship  in  Jerusalem ;  the  relation  of 
Malachi's  teaching  to  the  conditions  of  his  time  ;  arguments  by 
which  he  tries  to  show  love  of  Jehovah,  contemptibleness  of  the 
service  that  is  rendered  to  him ;  teaching  on  divorce ;  teaching  as 
to  divine  Providence  ;  teaching  in  regard  to  Jehovah's  judgment ; 
attitude  toward  Mosaic  law  ;  the  coming  prophet  and  his  mission  ; 
lessons  suggested  by  Malachi  as  to  whole-hearted  service,  faith  in 
Jehovah's  care  for  man,  mutual  encouragement  among  Jehovah's 
true  followers. 


ISAIAH 

LESSON  XXI 

ISAIAH  56-66 

Suggestions  for  Review. — The  abuses  attacked  in  Malachi ;  re- 
lation of  the  prophet's  work  to  that  of  Nehemiah  and  Ezra ;  posi- 
tive duties  insisted  upon  in  Malachi. 

I.     THE  PROPHET  AND  His  WORK 

In  passing  from  chapter  55  to  56  of  the  book  of  Isaiah 
one  feels  a  strong  contrast  in  the  tone  and  spirit  of  the 
writing.  Instead  of  a  messenger  of  hope, 
whose  song  of  comfort  and  cheer  rings 
out,  we  have  the  words  of  a  practical  teacher  dealing 
with  questions  that  must  arise  in  the  restored  community, 
or  a  stern  reformer  severely  denouncing  ritual  and  moral 
sin.  Later  on,  there  are  reminders  of  the  triumph  songs 
of  "  the  great  unknown  "  and  of  "  the  servant  passages. " 
Then  come  cries  for  mercy  from  a  penitent  people  and 
visions  of  new  heavens  and  a  new  earth.  It  is  not  possi- 
ble to  say  that  these  are  not  the  words  of  the  author  of 
40-55  simply  because  they  differ  in  thought,  style  and 
spirit  from  his  utterances ;  still  the  whole  section  is  dis- 
connected and  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  fit  some  parts  of 
these  last  eleven  chapters  into  the  closing  years  of  exile 
or  even  the  years  immediately  following.  It  is  very 
probable  that  we  are  to  recognize  in  this  disconnected 
series  of  messages  the  work  of  one  or  more  prophets  who 
labored  in  Israel  during  the  restoration  period  and,  with 
Malachi,  helped  in  the  great  movement  of  reform  which 


124   PROPHETS  OF  THE  EXILE  AND  RESTORATION 

we  connect  so  exclusively  with  the  names  of  Nehemiah 
and  Ezra. 

If  this  is  the  case,  the  times  are,  j  in  the  main,  essen- 
tially the  same  as  those  considered  in  the  preceding  les- 
son. Chapters  56-59  seem  to  be  ad- 
dressed to  the  Palestinian  community 
after  the  rebuilding  of  the  temple  and  before  the  work  of 
Nehemiah  has  been  accomplished.  The  people  are  in- 
different and  dejected.  The  rulers  are  unworthy ;  blind 
and  dumb  watchmen  seeking  only  their  own  gain. 
Licentious  worship,  such  as  characterized  pre-exilic 
days,  is  practised,  and  social  anarchy  exists,  with  its  in- 
justice and  violence.  Chapters  60-62,  on  the  other 
hand,  are  full  of  hope.  There  is  a  notable  absence  of  at- 
tack on  moral  or  ritual  error,  and  a  strong  sense  of  Jeho- 
vah's favor.  Beyond  this  the  background  is  not  very 
manifest,  although  some  verses  may  indicate  that  the 
temple  is  built,  and  one  passage  suggests  that  Nehemiah's 
building  of  the  walls  is  not  yet  accomplished.  Possibly 
these  chapters  reflect  the  effect  of  the  first  coming  of  Ne- 
hemiah on  the  prophet's  hopes.  Chapters  65  and  66 
seem  to  find  their  best  explanation  in  the  separation 
which  Nehemiah  instituted  between  the  Jews  and  the 
Samaritans,  who  had  free  access  to  the  temple  before  the 
city  walls  were  rebuilt.  In  63  and  64  the  picture  is  very 
different.  The  temple  is  burned  and  Zion  is  become  a 
wilderness.  This  suggests  the  days  of  exile,  but  the 
statement  that  Jehovah's  people  possessed  their  sanctuary 
a  little  while  and  then  adversaries  trod  it  down  seems  to 
fit  better  with  some  devastation  after  the  rebuilding; 


ISAIAH  125 

possibly,  it  was  during  the  persecution  by  Artaxerxes 
Ochus,  near  the  close  of  the  Persian  rule. 

This  series  of  oracles  opens  with  a  message  of  empha- 
sis upon  righteousness  and  Sabbath  observance,  as  the 

T.  „  ground  of  true  participation  in  the  privi- 

leges of  Jehovah's  people.  A  severe  de- 
nunciation of  the  selfishness  and  incapacity  of  the  Jewish 
rulers  follows.  The  immoral  superstitions  of  Israel's 
neighbors  are  next  rebuked  and  a  promise  is  given  to  the 
contrite  and  humble.  The  message  that  follows,  with  its 
scorn  for  the  folly  of  expecting  Jehovah's  favor  because 
of  solemn  fast  with  bowed  head,  sackcloth  and  ashes,  in- 
stead of  mercy  to  the  poor  and  oppressed,  reminds  one 
of  Amos,  Hosea,  and  Micah,  or  perhaps  more  closely 
resembles  Zechariah  7  :  i-io.  A  new  message  of  em- 
phasis upon  Sabbath  observance  ensues;  then  the 
prophet  declares  that  Jehovah  and  his  people  have  been 
separated  by  sin.  Violence  and  lies  are  rampant, 
therefore  are  they  in  darkness  and  misery.  Jeho- 
vah himself  will  come  in  judgment.  He  will  estab- 
lish his  covenant,  the  keeping  of  his  words  for  genera- 
tions to  come. 

Israel  shall  be  exalted  above  all  nations;  they  shall 
upbuild  and  serve  her.  Zion,  that  has  been  forsaken, 
shall  be  glorious.  Wealth  will  pour  in  to  her;  Jehovah 
himself  will  be  her  light ;  peace  and  righteousness  shall 
dwell  within  her.  The  messenger  is  divinely  endowed  to 
preach  good  tidings  of  comfort  and  liberty.  Judaea  shall 
be  gloriously  restored  and  Israel  recognized  as  Jehovah's 
priests,  blessed  of  him.  In  him  is  joy.  Jerusalem  shall 


I  26      PROPHETS  OF  THE  EXILE  AND  RESTORATION 

be  known  as  Jehovah's  delight.  Zion's  salvation  com- 
eth.  The  context  is  interrupted,  at  this  point,  by  a  brief 
prophecy  dealing  with  Jehovah's  vengeance  upon  Edom. 
Then  the  thought  returns  to  Jerusalem.  Israel  possessed 
her  sanctuary  a  little  while  only  and  adversaries  trod  it 
down.  The  prophet  voices  the  cry  of  the  people  to  Je- 
hovah, recalling  his  past  deliverances  and  humbly  seek- 
ing pity  as  Judaea  and  Jerusalem  lie  desolate,  and  the 
temple  is  burned  with  fire.  Jehovah  has  been  accessible 
even  to  those  who  have  despised  his  ordinances,  but  now 
they  shall  be  cut  off.  He  will  create  new  heavens  and  a 
new  earth.  In  Jerusalem  shall  be  joy  and  all  shall  be  at 
peace.  Jehovah  desires  not  a  material  house  but  a  peni- 
tent and  humble  spirit.  Jerusalem  shall  be  comforted. 
The  nations  shall  be  punished,  Jehovah's  glory  made 
known  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  and  the  despised  of 
Israel  restored  from  all  lands.  The  new  heavens  and 
new  earth  shall  remain,  and  all  flesh  shall  come  to  wor- 
ship before  Jehovah  and  be  warned  by  the  dread  fate  of 
those  who  have  transgressed  against  him. 

II.     ANALYSIS  OF  LESSON 

Ground  of  Participation  with  Jehovah's  People. — 56  :  1-8. 
Denunciation  of  Rulers  and  False  Worshipers — Promise. — 56:9-57. 
Mercy  rather  than  Sacrifice. — 58:  1-12. 
Promise  to  those  who  Keep  the  Sabbath. — 58 :  13,  14. 
Present  Sin  and  Misery — Future  Judgment  and  Blessings. — 59. 
Jerusalem's  Future  Glory. — 60-62. 

Jerusalem  upbuilded  and  Jehovah  in  her  midst- 

The  messenger  of  good  tidings. — 61 :  1-3. 

Israel  recognized  as  Jehovah's  people. — 61 :  4-62. 


ISAIAH  127 

Vengeance  on  Edom. — 63 :  1-6. 
Judah's  Present  Devastation. — 63  :  7-64. 
Jerusalem's  Future  Glory. — 65,  66. 

A  new  dispensation  in  Jerusalem. — 65. 

True  worship  and  superstition. — 66  :  1-5,  17,  i8a. 

Jerusalem   the   center  of  the   world's  worship,  66 :  6- 1 6, 
180-24. 

Home  Readings. — The  entire  section  56-66  may  well  be  read 
with  the  aid  of  the  above  analysis,  or  the  following  selections  may 
be  made  for  daily  reading  of  Scripture  :  ( I)  56 :  1-8 ;  (2)  58  :  1-12 ; 
(3)  59;  (4)  60:  1-14;  (s)  61;  (6)  65;  (7)  66 :  i,  2,  15-24. 

III.     POINTS  TO  BE  NOTED  IN  PREPARATION 

Indifference  and  dejection  (57 :  I  ;  58 :  3) ;  unworthy  rulers 
(56 :  9,  1 1 ) ;  licentious  worship  (57  :  5 ) ;  anarchy  (59  :  3,  7,  1 1 )  ; 
walls  apparently  not  yet  built  (60 :  10)  ;  devastation  of  the  land 
(64 :  10,  1 1 ;  63  :  18)  ;  moral  demands  of  Jehovah  (56  :  I ;  59 :  1-4 ; 
61 :  8)  ;  emphasis  upon  Sabbath  (56  :  2,  6;  58 :  13,  14;  59  :  13-15)  ; 
emphasis  on  penitence  and  humility  (57  :  15  ;  66  :  2)  ;  mercy  rather 
than  sacrifice  (58 :  5-8 ;  Amos  5  :  21-24 ;  Hosea  6:6;  Micahb  :  8 ; 
Zechariah  7:  i-io) ;  Jehovah's  judgment  (59:  17-19);  Jehovah's 
covenant  (59  :  21)  ;  dispersed  of  Israel  restored  (66  :  20)  ;  nations 
drawn  to  Jerusalem  (60 :  3,  10,  n,  14;  66  :  23,  etc.);  spiritual  glory 
of  Jerusalem  60  :  18-22 ;  62  :  12 ;  66  :  22,  23);  the  messenger  of  good 
tidings  (61 :  1-3) ;  Jehovah's  glory  to  the  ends  of  the  earth 
(66 :  18,  19). 

IV.  POINTS  FOR  REVIEW  IN  CLASS 
Difference  in  tone  between  Isaiah  40-55  and  56-66 ;  the 
probability  as  to  authorship  of  56-66,  as  to  date ;  grounds  of  par- 
ticipation in  privileges  of  Jehovah's  people  ;  grounds  of  denuncia- 
tion of  rulers  ;  character  of  those  who  obtain  Jehovah's  promise  ; 
prophetic  teaching  as  to  true  method  of  securing  Jehovah's  favor 
repeated  in  Isaiah  58  ;  real  cause  of  separation  between  Jehovah 


I  28      PROPHETS  OF  THE  EXILE  AND  RESTORATION 

and  people ;  result  of  establishing  covenant  j  chief  elements  in 
picture  of  Jerusalem's  future  ;  that  which  Jehovah  desires  rather 
than  a  material  house ;  chief  elements  in  the  message  of  good 
tidings  of  chapter  61 ;  the  future  of  Jerfovah's  religion  in  the 
world ;  the  most  important  truths  for  our  personal  lives  taught  in 
Isaiah  56-*6. 


JOEL  129 

IV.    Prophets  of  the  Age  of  Legalism 


LESSON  XXII 
JOEL 

Suggestions  for  Review. — Probability  as  to  authorship  and  date 
of  Isaiah  56-66;  Jerusalem's  future  pictured  in  these  chapters; 
some  great  moral  truths  taught  in  them. 

I.     THE  PROPHET  AND  His  WORK 
Joel  was  completely  saturated  with  the  writings  of  the 
prophets  who  preceded  him,  his  words  exhibiting  the 
closest  parallels  to  passages  from  many  of 
these.     His   thought,  however,   is  domi- 
nated by  the  priestly  spirit,  rather  than  that  of  the  early 
ethical  prophets.     When  gaunt  famine  threatens  the  land 
and  Jehovah's  hand  seems  heavy  in  judgment,  his  grief 
is  that  the  sacrifices  cannot  be  offered  and  his  call  is,  not 
to  moral  reformation,  but  to  a  fast  and  solemn  assembly. 
In  this  respect,  he  presents  a  marked  contrast  to  Ezekiel, 
Zechariah,  and  the  author  of  Isaiah  56-66,  whom  we 
have    seen    combining    the    moral    demands   of   early 
prophecy  with  prominent  recognition  of  priestly  institu- 
tions. 

We  have  reached  the  age  of  legalism  established  by 
the  reforms  of  Nehemiah  and  Ezra.  When  the  walls  of 

Jerusalem  were  rebuilt,  and  the  Levitical 
The  Times      ; 

law  first  completely  carried  out  in  the  life 

of  the  community,  a  half  century  of  comparative  pros- 


I  3O     PROPHETS  OF  THE  AGE  OF  LEGALISM 

perity  ensued.  Now,  at  last,  it  must  have  seemed  that 
Jehovah's  favor  was  being  secured,  and  that  the  one  thing 
needful  for  his  people  was  to  observe  Irigidly  all  his  ritual 
ordinances.  Suddenly,  one  of  those  locust  plagues,  which 
occasionally  devastate  Palestine,  threatens  the  little  strug- 
gling community  with  starvation.  The  vine  is  laid  waste, 
the  fig-tree  stands  with  white,  barked  branches,  adding 
desolation  to  the  scene.  The  wheat  and  the  barley  are 
perished,  the  new  wine  and  oil  fail,  the  pomegranate,  the 
palm,  and  the  apple,  even  all  the  trees  of  the  field  are 
withered.  There  is  nothing  from  which  to  furnish  the 
meat-offering  and  the  drink-offering  of  the  temple.  As 
so  often  happens  after  such  a  pest,  the  dry  stubble  left 
has  been  burned  by  drought  or  fire,  so  that  the  pastures 
of  the  wilderness  are  consumed.  This  is  the  scene  with 
which  the  book  of  Joel  opens.1 

The  prophets  have  long  predicted  the  coming  of 
Jehovah's  great  and  terrible  day.  Joel  declares  it  now 

nigh  at  hand,  for  a  devastation  such  as  no 
The  Message  „  .  .,     ,      ,      T      .  . , 

man  can  recall  is  upon  the  land.    In  vivid, 

concrete  pictures,  he  presents  the  misery  and  suffering 
that  have  fallen  upon  all  classes  of  the  community.  He 
describes  the  resistless  advance  of  the  locust  swarms  in 
highly  poetic  language  that,  nevertheless,  quite  accurately 
pictures  similar  devastations  which  have  been  witnessed 
in  Palestine  within  the  last  century  of  our  own  era. 

1  The  locust  plague  in  Joel  is  sometimes  interpreted  as  the  fig- 
urative presentation  of  a  devastating  human  army,  but  the  consid- 
erations in  favor  of  a  literal  interpretation  seem  overwhelmingly 
strong. 


JOEL  131 

Joel,  like  the  prophets  of  old,  finds  in  the  events  of  his 
day  the  great  judgment  of  Jehovah  and  cries  out  that 
even  yet,  if  they  will  turn  with  all  their  heart  unto  God, 
who  is  gracious  and  merciful,  they  may  be  delivered. 
Here  the  resemblance  to  the  prophets  of  an  earlier  age 
ceases.  They  would  have  called  for  repentance,  for  a 
change  in  moral  conduct,  while  Joel  calls  for  observance 
of  religious  ceremonies,  a  fast  and  solemn  assembly  with 
weeping  and  prayer  by  the  priests  who  stand  between  the 
temple  porch  and  altar.  The  ceremony  is  performed, 
and  glad  assurance  of  Jehovah's  favor  comes  to  his 
stricken  people.  Rains  fall,  and  all  the  land  gives 
promise  of  abundant  harvest  which  will  restore  the  years 
that  the  locust  has  eaten. 

From  the  restoration  of  physical  plenty,  the  prophet 
passes  to  contemplation  of  the  deeper  riches  of  the  coming 
age  when  the  Spirit  shall  be  poured  out  upon  all  flesh; 
and  he  recalls  that  before  Jehovah's  great  judgment  comes, 
there  shall  be  warning,  and  all  who  call  on  Jehovah's 
name  shall  escape.  He  finally  passes  on  to  the  thought 
which  had  been  growing  more  prominent  from  Ezekiel's 
day  forward,  that  Jehovah's  great  day  is  to  be  a  day  of 
judgment  upon  the  nations  when  he  shall  be  a  stronghold 
to  the  children  of  Israel.  Then  it  will  be  recognized 
that  God  dwells  in  Zion  and  no  strangers  shall  pass 
through  Jerusalem  any  more.  Ancient  enemies  that 
have  done  violence  to  the  children  of  Judah  shall  be 
desolate ;  Judah  shall  abide  forever. 

The  book  of  Joel  is  a  monument  of  the  intense  faith  of 
Judaism  in  the  efficiency  of  the  perfect  observance  of 


132     PROPHETS  OF  THE  AGE  OF  LEGALISM 

outward  forms.  It  marks  a  long  step  toward  the  pathetic 
struggle  of  sincere  souls,  in  still  later  centuries,  to  fulfil 
God's  will  by  perfect  observance  of  ptual.  In  estimat- 
ing the  significance  of  Joel,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that 
Judaism  was  soon  to  pass  through  trials  demanding  in- 
tensest  devotion  to  the  outer  forms  of  her  religion. 
Without  such  adherence,  for  which  prophecy  had  begun 
to  prepare  the  way  as  early  as  Ezekiel,  Judaism  must 
have  disappeared  in  the  two  or  three  centuries  after  JoePs 
age.  Again  we  follow  the  guiding  hand  shaping  Israel's 
ideals,  through  the  prophets,  until  the  fulness  of  time 
shall  come  for  bursting  the  protecting  wall  of  formalism 
and  ritual  exclusiveness. 

II.     ANALYSIS  OF  LESSON 

Title.— 1 :  I. 

The  Day  of  Jehovah  upon  Israel.— 1 :  2-2 :  II. 

Seeking  unto  Jehovah. — 2:  12-17. 

Restoration  of  Fertility.— 2 :  18-27. 

Outpouring  of  Spirit. — 2 :  28-32. 

Day  of  Jehovah  on  the  Nations. — 3  :  l-i6a. 

Jehovah  a  Refuge. — 3  :  i6b-2i. 

Home  Readings. — The  book  of  Joel  may  conveniently  be  divided, 
for  daily  reading  of  Scripture,  as  follows :  (i)  1 :  I-I2;  (2)  1 :  13- 
2:3;  (3)2:4-17;  (4)  2:  18-27;  (5)  2 128-32;  (6)3:i-i6a; 
(7)  3:  i6b-2i. 

III.     POINTS  TO  BE  NOTED  IN  PREPARATION 

Some  passages  that  show  influence  of  earlier  prophets  on  Joel's 
language  (3  ;  16,  cf.  Amos  1 :  2 ;  3 :  10,  cf.  Isa.  2 :  4,  Mic.  4 :  3 ;  2 :  2f 
cf.  Zeph.  1:15;  1 115,  cf.  Isa,  13 ;  6,  etc.) ;  circumstances  that  called 


JOEL  133 

forth  Joel's  message  (1:  2,  4,  7,  9,  10,  etc.);  Joel's  first  interpre- 
tation of  the  devastation  (2:  i,  2,  n);  description  of  the  coming 
of  the  locusts  (2:  4-10);  hope  of  averting  destruction  (2  :  12-14); 
means  of  averting  (2:  12,  I3a,  15-17);  eftect  of  means  employed 
(2:  1 8);  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  (2:  28,  29);  warning  before 
great  and  terrible  day  (2:  30,  31,  cf.  Mai.  4:  5);  day  of  judgment 
on  the  nations  (3:  2,  12,  13);  Jerusalem  inviolate  (3:  17). 

IV.  POINTS  FOR  REVIEW  IN  CLASS 
Influence  of  earlier  prophets  upon  Joel ;  limits  of  this  influence 
and  real  spirit  that  dominates  the  prophecy;  gradual  growth  of 
priestly  element  in  prophecy ;  probable  location  of  Joel  in  Jewish 
history ;  immediate  occasion  of  Joel's  prophecy ;  Joel's  first  inter- 
pretation of  the  calamity  that  befel  Judaea ;  the  means  of  averting 
the  trouble  urged  by  Joel ;  contrast  to  teaching  of  earlier  prophecy ; 
sudden  change  in  the  situation ;  Joel's  picture  of  the  coming  age ; 
final  picture  of  the  day  of  Jehovah  drawn  by  Joel ;  the  tendency 
of  later  Judaism  seen  in  Joel ;  the  historical  necessity  of  this  tend- 
ency;  its  dangers,  as  seen  in  the  Judaism  of  Christ's  day;  the 
hopelessness,  for  a  sincere  soul,  in  a  religion  of  mere  formalism. 


1 34        PROPHETS  OF  THE  AGE  OF  LEGALISM 

LESSON  XXIII 
l 

JONAH 

Suggestions  for  Review. — Period  of  Israel's  history  in  which  Joel 
prophesied ;  immediate  occasion  of  his  prophecy ;  dominant  spirit 
of  the  age  seen  in  the  prophecy;  the  conception  of  the  day  of 
Jehovah  at  the  beginning  and  at  the  close  of  the  book. 

I.     THE  PROPHET  AND  His  WORK 
The  book  of  Jonah  is  quite  different  from  all  the  other 
"latter  prophets."     While  they  sometimes  contain  his- 
torical and  biographical  material,  this  is 
The  Man        .      .  , 

incidental,  for  they  are  primarily  collec- 
tions of  the  prophets'  words.  The  book  of  Jonah,  on 
the  other  hand,  is  simply  a  narrative  in  which  the  prophet 
is  the  central  figure. 

Jonah,  the  son  of  Amittai,  is  mentioned  in  Kings  as 
having  predicted  the  national  expansion  under  Jero- 
boam II.  He  thus  antedated  Amos,  whom  we  regard  as 
the  earliest  of  the  "writing  prophets."  The  prophet 
whose  character  and  work  we  are  to  consider  at  this  time 
is  not  Jonah,  but  the  author  of  our  book  of  Jonah,  whose 
personality  shines  through  the  vivid  story  as  one  of  the 
most  attractive  figures  in  the  company  of  Israel's  prophets. 
The  book  was  written,  we  may  be  almost  sure,  during 
the  age  of  legalism  and,  probably,  even  later  than  Joel. 
The  writer's  inspired  vision  saw  the  evil  side  of  Jewish 
exclusiveness  only  less  perfectly  than  Jesus  himself.  He 
had  assimilated  the  thought  of  Isaiah  40-55,  that  Israel 


JONAH  135 

was  blind  to  her  mission  as  Jehovah's  servant  and  mes- 
senger and  that,  for  her  sin,  God  had  given  her  as  a 
spoil  to  the  robbers.  He  was  capable,  in  the  breadth  of 
his  nature,  of  appreciating  that  the  heathen  might  be 
men  of  sympathy  and  reverence,  and  that  the  God  of 
Israel  cared  for  them  with  tender  pity. 

The  age  in  which  we  place  the  author  of  Jonah  is  that 

in  which  Israel's  rigid  separation  from  her  neighbors  and 

her  careful   adherence   to  the  details  of 

priestly  distinctions  have   intensified  her 

sense  of  being  peculiarly  the  people  of  Jehovah.     Her 

anticipations  for  the  Gentiles  are  pictured  in  the  last 

chapter  of  Joel,  their  slaughter  in  the  valley  of  Jehovah's 

judgment.     Very  probably  the  bitter  persecution  suffered 

under  Artaxerxes  Ochus,  about  350  B.  c.,  has  already 

had  its  effect  on  the  national  temper. 

As  the  darkness  of  "  the  night  of  legalism  "  falls,  the 
book  of  Jonah  shines  forth,  a  lone  and  brilliant  star. 

The  writer  tells  a  vivid  story,  which  proves 
The  Message  *\ 

to  be  a  parable,  wherein  the  outer  form 

symbolizes  an  inner  meaning.  This  method  of  teaching 
had  been  practiced  by  some  of  his  predecessors.  The 
hero  of  the  story  is  one  whose  name  is  already  familiar 
as  a  prophet  who  had  correctly  foretold  Israel's  success 
against  an  ancient  foe.  ^Jot  impossibly^  some  narra- 
tive telling  of  Kicking  sept  with  a  message  to  a  foreign 
capital  had  come  down  through  the  centuries.  The 
Elisha  material  in  Kings  tells  of  that  prophet's  deliver- 
ing an  oracle  to  Hazael,  king  of  Syria,  in  Damascus. 
As  to  this,  however,  we  can  do  no  more  than  conjecture. 


I  36     PROPHETS  OF  THE  AGE  OF  LEGALISM 

Whatever  basis  of  fact  may  have  been  known  by  the 
author's  contemporaries,  the  real  meaning  of  the  story 
must  have  been  plain  to  those  whoj  recalled  how  the 
earlier  prophets  had  pictured  Israel's  enemies  as  great 
water  monsters,  and  had  represented  the  Babylonian  exile 
as  a  swallowing  up  and  vomiting  forth  by  Nebuchad- 
nezzar or  by  the  Babylonian  god,  Bel.  If  they  recalled, 
also,  such  a  prophecy  as  that  in  which  Israel  is  called 
Jehovah's  messenger  and  servant  who  is  blind,  the  mean- 
ing must  have  been  very  plain  to  Orientals,  so  fond  of 
symbolic  teaching.  Jonah  is  surely  Israel,  Jehovah's  serv- 
ant and  messenger  to  the  world.  The  messenger  has  re- 
jected God's  will  and  sought  to  flee  from  him.  God  has 
prepared  the  great  fish,  Babylon,  to  swallow  up  the  mes- 
senger and  bring  him  to  penitent  submission.  Then  he 
cries  unto  God  and  is  delivered.  Now  he  goes  upon  his 
mission  sullenly  obedient,  but  with  a  heart  that  still 
dreads  Jehovah's  mercy  to  the  Gentiles  and  longs  for  a 
day  of  vengeance  upon  them,  that  still  cares  more  for  the 
ephemeral  shadow  of  his  own  little  gourd  than  for  the 
fate  of  a  great  city  that  perishes  without  knowledge. 

Isaiah  had  anticipated  the  day  when  Egypt  and 
Assyria  should  worship  Jehovah ;  the  author  of  the 
"  servant  passages  "  had  pictured  Israel's  true  service  as 
that  of  a  messenger,  and  had  spoken  of  the  servant  as  a 
light  to  the  Gentiles.  Malachi  had  contrasted  the  half- 
hearted worship  of  the  Jews  with  the  sincere  worship  of 
Gentiles.  The  nation,  however,  had  delighted  in  pictures 
of  Jehovah  coming  in  terrible  vengeance  on  the  nations, 
or,  at  best,  bringing  them,  as  humble  dependents,  to 


JONAH  137 

worship  in  Jerusalem.     The  unnamed  author  of  Jonah 
saw  the  canker  in  his  nation's  life  and,  full  of  the  noblest 
thought  of  the  greatest  prophets,  told  his  interesting  story. 
In  the  opening  section  of  the  story,  the  trust  of  the 
heathen    sailors    in    their   gods  and    their    courageous 
efforts     to     save     Jonah     are     in     noble     contrast    to 
Jonah-Israel's    faithlessness    to    God    and   indifference 
to   the   destruction   of  those  of  other  race  and  creed. 
In  the  third  section,  the  ready  repentance  of  the  heathen 
Ninevites  teaches  the  same  broad  catholicity  of  spirit  as 
the  first  scene.     At  the  end,  the  wondrous  compassion  of 
Jehovah  is  presented  in  supreme  contrast  to  the  anger 
and  cruelty  of  Jonah-Israel.     Of  this  gospel  message  of\ 
Israel's  mission  to  the  heathen,  of  Gentile  capacity  for  I 
courage,  kindness  and  repentance,  and  of  God's  mercy  \t 
extending  even  to  the  crudest  enemy  of  Israel,  the  story) 
of  Jonah  is  the  vehicle.1 

II.     ANALYSIS  OF  PROPHECY 

Flight  and  Catastrophe. — 1. 
Prayer  and  Deliverance. — 2. 
Preaching  and  Repentance. — 3. 
Cruelty  of  Jonah  and  Mercy  of  God. — 4. 

Home  Readings. — The  four  chapters  form  a  natural  division  in 
the  book  which  may  be  adopted  for  daily  reading.  For  the  re- 
maining days  of  the  week  the  following  readings  are  suggested : 

1  Many  are  troubled  in  interpreting  the  story  of  Jonah,  by  the 
thought  that  Christ's  reference  to  it  stamps  the  narrative  as  actual 
history.  Such  may  profitably  read  the  reverent  discussion  of  Prof. 
George  Adam  Smith,  "Book  of  the  Twelve  Prophets,"  II, 
507-509. 


I  38  PROPHETS  OF  THE  AGE  OF  LEGALISM 

(i)  Isaiah's  hope  for  the  Gentiles,  Isa.  2:2-4;  19 :  19-25 ;  (2)  Mal- 
achi's  recognition  of  Gentile  worship,  Mai.  1 :  6-14;  (3)  A  light  to 
the  Gentiles,  Isa.  49 :  1-7. 

III.  POINTS  TO  BE  NOTED  IN  PREPARATION 

Historical  reference  to  Jonah,  son  of  Amittai,  (2  Kings  14 :  25)  . 
Israel  a  blind  servant  and  messenger  (Isa.  42 :  19)  ;  Israel's  punish- 
ment (Isa.  42  :  24)  ;  the  good  conduct  of  the  heathen  sailors  (Jonah 
1  :  11-13,  5,  6,  16);  of  the  heathen  Ninevites  (3:  5-9)  ;  Jehovah's 
compassion  on  the  heathen  (3  :  10;  4:  2,  11)  ;  prophetic  use  of  the 
parable,  (Isa.  5  : 1-7,  etc.);  Israel's  enemies  pictured  as  water 
monster  (Isa.  26 :  21 ;  27 :  I ;  51 :  9,  10)  ;  Babylonian  exile  pictured 
as  swallowing  up  and  belching  forth  (Jer.  51 :  34,  44) ;  earlier 
expressions  of  hope  for  Gentiles,  see  "  Home  Readings  "  ;  Jonah's 
cruel  attitude  toward  the  Gentiles  (4:  1-4). 

IV.     POINTS  FOR  REVIEW  IN  CLASS 

Difference  between  Jonah  and  other  books  of  the  "  latter  proph- 
ets "  ;  date  and  message  of  the  historical  Jonah  of  2  Kings ;  who  is 
the  true  prophet  whose  personality  and  message  are  found  in  the 
book  of  Jonah?  date  of  the  writer;  beautiful  elements  in  his  char- 
acter ;  evil  elements  in  the  Judaism  of  his  age ;  symbolic  teaching, 
especially  in  the  form  of  parable,  in  the  Bible ;  possible  traditional 
basis  for  story  of  Jonah ;  Israel's  previous  familiarity  with  the 
imagery  of  the  story  of  Jonah  ;  the  meaning  of  the  story,  if  it  is 
interpreted  as  a  parable ;  earlier  prophetic  hopes  for  the  Gentiles 
reinterpreted  to  the  narrow  age  of  legalism ;  different  anticipa- 
tions for  the  Gentiles  current  in  Judah ;  the  contrast  drawn  in  the 
story  between  the  Gentiles  and  Jonah-Israel,  between  Jehovah 
and  Jonah-Israel;  gospel  truth  found  in  the  book  of  Jonah;  is 
this  truth  in  the  narrative,  whether  it  be  interpreted  as  literal 
history  or  parable  ?  reasons  why  this  glorious  truth  in  the  book 
has  so  often  been  lost  sight  of;  do  we  Christians  ever  fall  into  any- 
thing of  the  spirit  against  which  the  book  of  Jonah  protests  ? 


DANIEL  1 39 

LESSON  XXIV 
DANIEL  1-6 

Suggestions  for  Review. — Probable  date  of  writing  Jonah  ;  the 
nature  of  the  narrative ;  sins  of  Israel  against  which  the  book  is 
directed ;  the  great  truths  of  the  book. 

I.  THE  APOCALYPSE  OF  DANIEL 
In  the  Hebrew  Bible,  the  book  of  Daniel  is  not  grouped 
with  the  prophetic  books  but  is  placed  in  the  third  col- 
lection of  writings  that  make  up  the  canon.  This  is 
probably  due  to  the  fact  that  Daniel  was  written  after  the 
collection  of  prophetic  writings  was  completed.  Yet  the 
book  does  differ  very  much  from  the  earlier  books  of 
prophecy,  even  though  it  is,  in  many  characteristics,  the 
natural  culmination  of  tendencies  that  we  have  seen  de- 
veloping in  prophecy.  These  tendencies  concern  both 
form  and  substance.  In  literary  form,  Daniel  is  the  full 
realization  of  the  trend  toward  symbolic  vision  which 
was  so  prominent  in  Ezekiel  and  Zechariah,  and  which 
had  appeared  in  germ  as  early  as  Amos,  himself.  In 
thought,  the  book  is  the  culmination  of  the  fondness  for 
picturing  a  great  day  of  Jehovah's  sudden  judgment 
upon  the  nations  gathered  against  his  people.  Ezekiel's 
prophecy  against  the  mysterious  Gog  stands  as  the  great 
prototype  of  this  kind  of  vision,  while  there  are  con- 
spicuous examples  in  Zechariah  9-14  and  Joel.  The 
germ  of  this  tendency,  too,  may  be  found  in  pre-exilic 
prophecy. 


I4O     PROPHETS  OF  THE  AGE  OF  LEGALISM 

The  Greek  name  apocalypse  (meaning  disclosure,  or 
revelation),  is  commonly  applied  to  the  type  of  writing 
represented  by  Daniel.  The  type*  became  extremely 
popular  in  the  days  of  later  Judaism  dnd  was  even 
adopted  by  the  early  Christians,  as  the  Book  of  Revela- 
tion in  the  New  Testament  indicates.  One  characteristic 
of  the  fully  developed  apocalypse,  which  distinguishes  it 
from  the  earlier  prophetic  writings  with  apocalyptic  tend- 
encies, is  the  custom  of  putting  the  words  into  the  mouth 
of  some  ancient  worthy,  who  is  represented  as  describing 
events  of  history  under  symbolic  forms,  and  as  though  in 
a  vision  of  the  future.  Thus,  a  whole  apocalyptic  liter- 
ature attached  itself  to  the  name  of  Enoch,  "  the  seventh 
from  Adam."  The  course  of  history  is  usually  followed 
down  to  the  time  of  the  writer,  sometimes  with  much  de- 
tail, and  then  the  vision  goes  on  to  the  anticipated  day 
of  Jehovah's  judgment  upon  the  nations. 

II.     THE  PROPHET  AND  His  WORK 

Many  lines  of  evidence  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
Book  of  Daniel  was  written  long  after  the  period  to  which 
Daniel's  life  is  ascribed.  The  writer  prob- 
ably wrote  in  the  second  century  B.  c.  and 
attached  his  apocalypse  to  an  ancient  worthy,  Daniel, 
who  is  mentioned  in  Ezekiel,  along  with  Noah  and  Job, 
as  a  type  of  a  righteous  man  and,  in  another  passage,  as 
a  wise  man  (Ezek.  14 :  14,  20;  28  :  3). 

With  Alexander's  conquest  of  the  Persian  empire,  the 
Jews  fell  under  Greek  rule,  after  two  centuries  of  subjec- 


DANIEL  141 

tion  to  Persia.     After  Alexander's  death 
The  Times 

and  the  breaking  up  of  his  kingdom,  when 

matters  at  length  became  somewhat  settled,  Judaea  found 
itself  a  dependency  of  the  Ptolemies  of  Egypt,  and  en- 
joyed an  era  of  prosperity  such  as  had  not  been  experi- 
enced in  many  long  years.  A  century  later,  Antiochus 
the  Great  transferred  Palestine  to  the  Seleucid  Kingdom, 
the  capital  of  which  was  Antioch,  in  northern  Syria. 
Contact  with  Greek  civilization  was  rapidly  Hellenizing 
the  Judaean  community.  All  the  walls  of  separation  that 
Nehemiah  and  Ezra  had  built  were  now  needed  to  keep 
the  community  from  absorption  by  the  cultured  heathen 
life  about  it.  Still  the  Jewish  life  was  not  assimilated 
rapidly  enough  to  suit  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  who  as- 
cended the  throne  in  176  B.  c.  He  undertook  to  destroy 
all  vestiges  of  distinctive  Jewish  life  and  thus  to  Hellenize 
the  whole  people  by  force.  The  temple  was  plundered, 
all  copies  of  the  law  that  could  be  found  were  destroyed, 
observance  of  the  Sabbath,  the  sacred  feasts,  and  the 
right  of  circumcision  were  forbidden  on  penalty  of  death. 
All  were  compelled  to  take  part  in  heathen  sacrifice,  the 
temple  was  polluted  with  the  blood  of  unclean  animals, 
and  an  altar  of  Zeus,  "  the  abomination  of  desolation," 
was  set  up  on  the  site  of  the  great  altar  of  Jehovah.  It 
was  near  the  close  of  168  B.  c.  that  the  worship  of  Je- 
hovah ceased  in  the  temple.  The  book  of  Daniel  was, 
in  all  probability,  written  between  this  time  and  the 
death  of  Antiochus  in  164. 

The  first  six  chapters  consist  of  a  series  of  narratives 
concerning  the  experiences  of  Daniel  as  an  exile  in  Bab- 


142     PROPHETS  OF  THE  AGE  OF  LEGALISM 

ylonia.     They  tell  of  the  steadfastness  of 
The     essage    ^  yOung  jewish  captive  and  his  three 

friends,  in  keeping  themselves  from  Defilement  with  food 
that  might  have  been  consecrated  to  heathen  deities. 
They  narrate  the  marvelous  deliverance  of  the  three 
friends,  who  refuse  to  worship  the  golden  image  set  up  by 
Nebuchadnezzar ;  and  of  Daniel  when  he  is  cast  into  the 
lions1  den  for  praying  to  his  God.  All  of  these  narra- 
tives have  the  most  evident  bearing  upon  the  circum- 
stances of  the  time  when  the  book  was  written.  They 
are  designed  to  lead  the  readers  to  a  like  steadfast  refusal 
to  abandon  Jewish  rites  and  customs  and  recognize 
heathen  deities.  Mingled  with  these  stories  of  faithful- 
ness are  accounts  of  Daniel's  God-given  wisdom  in  the 
interpretation  of  vision  and  dream.  Of  these  latter,  the 
most  interesting  is  that  recorded  in  the  second  chapter, 
Nebuchadnezzar's  dream  of  the  great  image.  Consider- 
ing this  vision  by  itself  alone,  it  is  not  possible  to  de- 
termine just  what  nations  are  intended,  but,  when  it  is 
studied  in  connection  with  chapters  7-12,  it  becomes 
highly  probable  that  the  succession  is  Babylonia,  Media, 
Persia,  and  Macedonia,  the  last  being  divided  into  the 
kingdoms  of  the  Ptolemies  and  Seleucids.  Whether  or  not 
this  is  the  correct  interpretation  of  the  kingdoms,  there 
can  be  no  question  that  the  stone  which  destroys  the 
image  is  the  kingdom  of  God.  This  chapter  forms  the 
only  strictly  apocalyptic  section  in  the  first  half  of  Daniel. 
Brief  as  it  is,  it  has  the  characteristics  of  apocalypse  in 
its  obscure  and  difficult  symbolism,  recording  the  course 
of  history  and  terminating  with  Jehovah's  judgment  upon 


DANIEL  143 

the  world  powers.  The  remaining  narratives  of  chapters 
1-6,  Nebuchadnezzar's  dream  of  the  tree  and  the  hand- 
writing on  the  wall,  seem  designed  to  enforce  the  truth 
of  God's  rule  over  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth.  All 
three  of  the  accounts  concerning  dream  and  vision  show 
much  the  same  purpose  as  those  first  considered,  namely, 
to  comfort  and  strengthen  those  who  are  enduring  terri- 
ble persecution  when  the  power  of  the  heathen  oppressor 
seems  resistless. 

III.     ANALYSIS  OF  LESSON 

Refusal  of  the  King's  Food. — 1. 

The  Dream  of  the  Image. — 2. 

Refusal  to  Worship  the  Golden  Image. — 3. 

The  Dream  of  the  Tree.— 4. 

The  Handwriting  on  the  Wall.— 5. 

Faithfulness  in  Prayer  to  God. — 6. 

Home  Readings. — The  entire  section  may  easily  be  read  during 
the  week,  or  the  following  selections  may  be  made  :  (i)  1 :  8-21 ; 
(2)  2:31-45;  (3)  3:i-i2;  (4)  3:13-27;  (5)4:19-27;  (6) 
5:  17-28;  (7)  6:10-23. 

IV.     POINTS  TO  BE  NOTED  IN  PREPARATION 

A  reading  of  the  selections  indicated  under  "  Home  Readings  " 
will  suffice  to  make  intelligible  the  points  treated  under  II. 

V.     POINTS  FOR  REVIEW  IN  CLASS 

Place  of  Daniel  in  the  Hebrew  Bible ;  two  apocalyptic  tenden- 
cies seen  in  prophetic  books  that  antedate  Daniel ;  a  characteristic 
of  apocalypse,  not  seen  in  strictly  prophetic  books ;  time  of  writing 
Daniel  in  relation  to  time  when  Daniel's  life  is  placed ;  outline 
history  of  Greek  rule  over  Judah ;  effect  of  Greek  civilization  on 


144     PROPHETS  OF  THE  AGE  OF  LEGALISM 

Judaism ;  the  attempt  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes;  the  means  he  em- 
ployed ;  exact  time  to  which  writing  of  Daniel  should  be  ascribed  ; 
the  three  narratives  of  steadfastness  in  Daniel  1-6 ;  their  appro- 
priateness in  the  time  of  the  writing ;  me  dream  of  the  image  and 
its  interpretation ;  apocalyptic  character  of  this  narrative ;  signifi- 
cance of  narratives  of  the  dream  of  the  tree  and  of  the  writing  on 
the  wall ;  relation  of  the  narratives  of  the  dreams  and  the  writing 
on  the  wall  to  the  circumstances  of  the  Jews  under  Antiochus ; 
what  religious  truths  important  for  all  ages  are  conveyed  by  the 
stories  of  Daniel  1-6. 


DANIEL  145 

LESSON  XXV 
DANIEL  7-12 

Suggestions  for  Review. — Three  or  four  characteristics  of  apoca- 
lyptic literature  ;  probable  date  of  writing  Daniel ;  circumstances 
of  the  time  ;  purpose  of  chapters  1-6  in  relation  to  these  circum- 
stances. 

I.     THE  PROPHET  AND  His  WORK 

In  the  last  lesson  the  author  of  Daniel  was  seen  seek- 
ing to  bring  comfort  to  his  countrymen  in  the  time  of 
their  deepest  distress,  and  to  strengthen 
them  to  remain  loyal  to  their  religion. 
The  self-restraint  of  one  who  could  write  under  such 
monstrous  persecution  and  show  so  little  of  bitter  hatred 
is  most  notable.  In  the  more  purely  apocalyptic  sections 
that  constitute  the  latter  half  of  the  book,  the  same 
moderation  is  manifest.  Even  when  the  writer  has  been 
recounting  the  persecution  and  blasphemy  of  Antiochus 
and  comes  to  predict  the  end  of  this  "contemptible 
person,"  there  is  no  reveling  in  the  blood  of  enemies. 
The  grandly  simple  statement  is,  "He  shall  come  to  his 
end,  and  none  shall  help  him.7'  With  this,  and  nothing 
more,  he  passes  on  to  the  reward  of  those  who  have  been 
faithful.  The  lofty  soul  of  this  writer  seems  to  turn, 
far  more  readily,  to  thoughts  of  the  noble  ones  who  en- 
dure persecution,  than  to  anticipations  of  vengeance  on 
his  nation's  enemies. 

The  present  section  of  the  book  carries  us  into  the  de- 


146     PROPHETS  OF  THE  AGE  OF  LEGALISM 

tails  of  the  long  struggle  for  the  possession  of  Palestine, 

between     the    Seleucids    and    Ptolemies 
The  Times 

(kings  of  the  north  and  south)  and  the 

final  Seleucid  rule,  down  to  the  breaking  out  of  the 
Maccabaean  revolt  in  167  B.  c.  The  point  at  which  the 
history  breaks  off  makes  it  extremely  probable  that  the 
book  was  written  before  the  successes  of  Judas  Macca- 
baeus  had  made  possible  the  reinstitution  of  Jehovah 
worship  in  the  temple.  This  was  actually  accomplished 
a  little  more  than  three  years  after  the  setting  up  of 
"the  abomination  of  desolation."  The  death  of  An- 
tiochus,  which  is  anticipated  in  Daniel,  occurred  in  the 
following  year. 

In  the  detailed  interpretation  of  the  apocalyptic  visions 
of  Daniel  2  and  7-12  great  difference  of  opinion  has  pre- 
vailed from  early  times.     In  the  light  of 
The  Message  .     '  .        5        r 

subsequent   history,    the  last  kingdom  of 

chapters  2  and  7  has  often  been  identified  with  the 
Roman  Empire.  Some  have  thought  that  the  visions 
contained  an  outline  of  history  extending  on  to  the 
papacy  or  even  to  times  still  future.  Among  modern 
scholars,  the  view  already  suggested  in  connection  with 
chapter  2,  that  the  last  Gentile  kingdom  in  the  writer's 
mind  is  the  Greek,  is  very  generally  adopted.  It  is  per- 
fectly clear  in  the  vision  of  chapter  8  (the  ram,  goat,  and 
horns)  that  the  little  horn  which  casts  down  the  sanc- 
tuary is  Antiochus  Epiphanes.  The  little  horn  of 
chapter  7  is,  in  all  probability,  the  same,  and  if  such  is 
the  case  the  succession  of  beasts  represents  Babylonia, 
Media,  Persia,  and  Greece.  The  ten  horns  are  then  the 


DANIEL  147 

Seleucid  rulers  and  the  claimants  for  the  Seleucid  throne 
whom  Antiochus  displaces. 

Probably  the  most  baffling  prophecy  of  all  is  that  of 
the  seventy  weeks.  Even  in  the  early  centuries  of  the 
Church,  scholarship  was  sadly  perplexed  by  the  problem. 
St.  Jerome,  who  knew  of  nine  different  interpretations,  did 
not  attempt  to  decide  between  them.  Every  explanation 
meets  with  difficulties,  but  the  one  most  commonly  held 
by  scholars,  to-day,  seems  the  least  improbable.  Accord- 
ing to  this,  the  entire  seventy  weeks  is  the  period  between 
Jeremiah's  predictions  that  the  city  would  be  rebuilt  and 
the  end  of  the  persecution  of  Antiochus.  This  inter- 
pretation accepts  the  usual  view  that  the  "  weeks  "  are 
weeks  of  years  and  identifies  the  division  of  the  seventy 
into  7  -(-62 -|- 1  as  follows  :  (i)  from  Jeremiah's  prophecy 
to  the  edict  of  Cyrus  permitting  the  rebuilding,  (2)  re- 
building to  the  murder  of  the  high  priest  Onias  III,  the 
"anointed"  in  171  B.  c.,  (3)  the  period  of  persecution, 
in  the  midst  of  which  comes  the  desecration  of  the 
temple.  The  vision  of  chapters  10-12  evidently  ter- 
minates with  the  death  of  Antiochus  and  the  blessings  to 
follow. 

If  these  interpretations  are  right,  the  vision  is  one,  in 
all  the  apocalyptic  portions  of  the  book,  and  is  in  closest 
harmony  with  the  narrative  portions.  Its  meaning  is, 
then,  primarily  for  the  afflicted  sufferers  under  the  per- 
secutions of  Antiochus.  The  prophet  tells  them,  in  effect, 
that  God  has  permitted  the  succession  of  great  powers  to 
rule  over  his  people  from  Nebuchadnezzar  to  Antiochus, 
but  now  this  subjection  is  about  to  end  and  the  rule  of 


148     PROPHETS  OF  THE  AGE  OF  LEGALISM 

God's  saints  to  be  established.  The  image  is  to  be 
shattered,  the  last  beast  destroyed,  the  little  horn  broken 
without  hand,  the  king  of  the  northjto  come  to  his  end. 
The  determined  time  approaches  when  the  last  half  of 
the  week  of  persecution  shall  end. 

Those  who  have  followed  a  historical  study  of  the 
development  of  prophecy  and  have  seen  how  the  proph- 
ets ever  addressed  themselves  to  the  needs  of  the  genera- 
tion in  which  they  lived,  will  find  this  the  natural  view 
to  take  of  the  primary  aim  of  the  book  of  Daniel.  The 
message  of  the  book  is,  however,  far  from  exhausted  in 
this  primary  application.  The  book  speaks  to  every  age 
the  eternal  truths  of  prophecy.  When  the  temple  is 
desolate  and  an  altar  to  Zeus  stands  where  sacrifice  had 
been  offered  to  Jehovah,  when  every  outward  vestige  of 
Jehovah  worship  is  being  consumed,  and  every  Jew  who 
refuses  to  offer  heathen  sacrifice  is  cut  down,  the  author 
of  Daniel  utters,  without  any  bitterness  of  malice  toward 
the  persecutor,  the  sublime  faith  of  Israel's  prophets,  that 
Jehovah  rules  through  all  the  centuries  and  directs  the 
course  of  empire;  that  he  will  deliver  his  people  in 
his  own  determined  time ;  and  that  they  who  have 
known  him  through  every  peril  shall  shine  as  the  bright- 
ness of  the  firmament,  they  who  turn  many  to  righteous- 
ness as  the  stars  forever  and  ever. 

Whatever  may  be  the  true  interpretation  of  the  puzzling 
details  of  Daniel's  visions,  the  spiritual  message  of  the 
book  is  clear.  If  the  prophet  was  inspired  to  map  out 
for  man's  interested  gaze  the  course  of  future  history, 
then  the  difficulties  of  interpreting  Daniel's  visions  may 


DANIEL  149 

well  leave  us  perplexed  and  in  doubt.  If,  on  the  other 
hand,  prophetic  inspiration  was  such  insight  into  the 
nature  of  God  as  reveals  his  constant  loving  purposes  and 
his  will  for  man,  then  the  book  of  Daniel  stands  one  of 
the  most  inspiring  monuments  of  prophetic  inspiration. 

II.     ANALYSIS  OF  LESSON 

The  Four  Beasts. — 7. 
The  Ram,  Goat,  and  Horns — 8. 
The  Seventy  Weeks.— 9. 
The  Man  in  Linen.— 10-12. 

Colloquy  with  the  Angel.— 10 :  1-11 :  I. 

History  from  Darius  to  Antiochus. — 11 :  2-45. 

The  future  age.— 12. 

Home  Readings.— The  entire  section  may  be  read  during  the 
week  or  the  following  passages  may  be  selected  for  daily  reading : 
(i)  7:  1-14;  (2)8:1-14;  (3)  9 -.20-27; '(4)  11:  2-7,  20-27;  (5)  H  : 
28-39;  (6)  11:40-12:4;  (7)  12:5-12. 

III.     POINTS  TO  BE  NOTED  IN  PREPARATION 

A  careful  reading  of  the  selected  passages  under  "  Home  Read- 
ings "  will  enable  one  to  follow  the  discussion  under  "  The  Prophet 
and  His  Work."  In  addition  a  detailed  comparison  of  the  visions 
in  chapters  2,  7,  and  8  will  prove  especially  profitable. 

IV.     POINTS  FOR  REVIEW  IN  CLASS 

A  notable  feature  of  the  author's  spirit ;  exact  date  of  the  book  ; 
time  of  death  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes  ;  most  probable  view  as  to 
the  identity  of  last  Gentile  kingdom  in  visions  of  chapters  2  and  7; 
certainty  as  to  the  historical  termination  of  the  vision  in  chapter  8 ; 
probable  identification  of  the  three  periods  included  in  the  seventy 


I5O     PROPHETS  OF  THE  AGE  OF  LEGALISM 

weeks ;  terminal  point  in  the  symbolic  account  of  Gentile  history 
in  chapters  10-12 ;  possible  unity  in  the  entire  message  of  the 
book ;  summary  statement  of  its  message  fir  the  writer's  day ;  its 
message  for  every  age ;  the  force  added  to  the  -  message  by  a 
knowledge  of  the  circumstances  under  which  it  was  uttered ;  dan- 
ger of  losing  sight  of  the  deep  moral  and  spiritual  truth  of  a  book 
like  Daniel  in  the  discussion  of  the  details  of  its  symbolism ;  the 
true  revelation  of  prophecy — a  detailed  knowledge  of  what  is  to 
happen  in  future  years,  or  a  knowledge  of  God  and  his  will  for 
man? 


REVIEW  151 

LESSON  XXVI 
REVIEW 

I.     THE  PROPHETS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

The  twelve  lessons  now  completed  have  dealt  with  ten 
different  prophets  whose  work  is  distributed  over  a  period 

of  four   and   a   quarter   centuries.     This 
The  Men  .  ...        . 

group  of  prophets  is  sharply  distinguished 

from  those  studied  in  the  previous  quarter  by  the  changed 
conditions  under  which  they  lived.  In  large  measure, 
the  work  of  the  prophets  has  ceased  to  be  that  of  states- 
men seeking  to  mould  the  national  policy  of  their  people, 
since  their  people  no  longer  form  a  nation  free  to  enter 
into  alliance  or  war  with  other  nations.  The  prophets 
now  look  forward,  it  is  true,  to  a  restored  national  life 
and  picture  it  ideally,  but  the  vision  tarries,  and  they  ad- 
dress themselves  chiefly  to  building  up  a  religious  organi- 
zation which  may  preserve  the  integrity  of  Jehovah's  peo- 
ple while  the  political  organization  can  be  merely  that  of 
a  little  province  in  a  great  heathen  empire.  In  the  task 
of  developing  a  compact  religious  organization,  the 
prophets  and  priests  are  united,  whereas  in  the  pre-exilic 
days,  conditions  required  the  prophets  to  minimize  or 
even  deny  the  necessity  of  priestly  ritual.  The  statesman 
spirit  was  not  extinct,  however,  in  Israel's  prophets,  who 
now  manifested  it  by  shaping  their  teaching  to  the  new 
needs  of  the  new  age. 

As  preachers,  the  personality  and  doctrine  of  the  dif- 


152     PROPHETS  OF  THE  AGE  OF  LEGALISM 

ferent  men  is  hardly  less  striking  than  in  the  case  of  those 
of  the  earlier  centuries.  Ezekiel  stands  forth  alone  as 
the  dominating  force  in  shaping  thejideals  and  hopes  of 
Israel  to  meet  the  new  conditions.  He  was  capable  of 
seeing  the  spiritual  truths  that  were  needed  to  enable  the 
men  of  his  day  to  receive  aright  the  discipline  that  they 
were  experiencing,  and  also  of  recognizing  the  necessity 
for  an  impressive  religious  organization  in  the  days  to 
come.  The  world  has  rarely  seen  a  religious  teacher 
combining  so  fully  emphasis  upon  both  elements  of  re- 
ligion, its  visible  body  and  its  inner  spirit.  Obadiah  has 
left  hardly  a  sufficient  record  to  make  his  personality 
distinct,  but  the  author  of  Isaiah  40-55,  in  spite  of  his 
absorption  in  his  message  or  because  of  it,  is  felt  as  a 
personality  of  the  greatest  strength  and  beauty.  Haggai 
stands  alone  among  all  the  prophets  as  the  type  of  the 
plain,  practical  man  who  sees  the  immediate  need  and 
meets  it;  Zechariah  labors  together  with  him  and,  by 
deep  moral  and  spiritual  insight,  offsets  the  dangers 
of  temporary  zeal  and  superficiality  that  attend  the  influ- 
ence of  such  a  man  as  Haggai.  Malachi  appears  as  the 
opponent  of  sham  and  hypocrisy  in  religion.  He  lays 
intense  stress  upon  Judah's  preserving  her  own  formal 
worship  with  all  carefulness,  but  prefers  a  whole-hearted 
heathen  to  a  half-hearted  Jew.  The  section  Isaiah  56-66 
leaves  no  very  clear  impression  of  one  personality  behind 
its  many-sided  message.  If  these  chapters  are,  however, 
the  words  of  one  prophet,  they  show  him,  by  the  rich- 
ness and  variety  of  their  spiritual  lessons  one  who  is  nota- 
ble in  all  the  company  of  Israel's  prophets.  Joel  is  a. 


REVIEW  I  5  3 

polished  student  of  prophetic  letters  who  has  absorbed 
the  figures  and  expressions  of  his  predecessors,  but  in 
spirit  shares  too  much  the  limitations  of  his  age  to  attain 
unto  the  first  rank.  Still,  he  is  capable  of  glorious  vision. 
The  author  of  Jonah  rises  out  of  the  narrowness  and  bit- 
terness of  his  age  almost  to  the  full  gospel  vision  of  the 
infinite  mercy  of  Jehovah  ;  with  what  condescension  and 
tact  does  the  writer  embody  his  lofty  thought  in  a  homely 
story  that  must  have  impressed  his  message  upon  the  men 
of  his  age  !  The  writer  of  Daniel,  in  the  midst  of  perse- 
cution, thinks  only  of  his  harassed  countrymen  and  with 
supreme  faith  holds  them  loyal  to  their  God.  His  is  a 
nature  deep,  and  strong,  and  gentle  withal. 

The  period  of  history  covered  by  the  work  of  these  ten 
has  been  divided  broadly  into  two  parts.  The  one,  ex- 
tending  from  the  early  years  of  exile  to 
the  reforms  of  Nehemiah  and  Ezra,  about 
150  years,  we  style  the  age  of  exile  and  restoration  ;  the 
other,  opening  with  the  drastic  reforms  of  Nehemiah  and 
Ezra  and  including  more  than  two  and  a  half  centuries, 
we  denominate  the  age  of  legalism.  We  have  seen,  how- 
ever, that  both  portions  of  the  four  centuries  under  con- 
sideration are  legalistic  in  contrast  to  the  spirit  of  the  pre- 
exilic  age. 

During  the  centuries  included  in  the  present  quarter's 
study,  Israel  was  successively  subject  to  three  great  and 
widely  different  empires.  The  first  was  that  of  a  Semitic 
people,  their  own  race.  The  second  and  third  empires 
were  of  the  Aryan  race,  wherein  Israel  formed  an  alien 
element.  Each  different  civilization  left  its  deep  impres- 


154     PROPHETS  OF  THE  AGE  OF  LEGALISM 

sion  on  the  thought  and  modes  of  expression  of  the  little 
subject  people  which  yet,  adhering  to  its  own  religious 
faith  and  practices,  retained  its  identity  and  national 
characteristics.  The  prophetic  thought  became  enriched 
from  many  sources,  but  its  vital  principle  was  the  same 
from  Elijah  and  Amos  to  the  authors  of  Jonah  and 
Daniel. 

We  have  already  recalled  the  general  fact  that  the 

prophets  of  the  exile  and  restoration  laid  stress  upon  rit- 

ual,  in  striking  contrast  to  their  predeces- 

Hie  mCSSagCS  •  -•••« 

sors  of  the  eighth  and  seventh  centuries. 
Ezekiel  largely  shaped  the  Levitical  tendency  of  Judaism ; 
Haggai  and  Zechariah  labored  for  the  rebuilding  of  the 
temple  where  the  ritual  of  worship  might  be  perfectly  ob- 
served. Malachi  and,  in  part,  Isaiah  56-66  seem  to 
have  aided  the  Nehemiah-Ezra  reforms  which  made 
Judaism  separate  and  uncontaminated.  Joel  emphasized 
formal  worship  as  the  one  thing  needful  in  his  day.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  great  body  of  moral  and  spiritual 
truth  that  we  owe  to  the  prophets  received  great  enrich- 
ment in  this  period.  Ezekiel  saw  the  individual  respon- 
sibility of  every  man,  whether  prophet  or  hearer,  as  no 
one  before  him  had  understood  it;  the  author  of  the 
"servant  passages"  first  introduced  into  this  world  of 
struggle  for  dominance,  the  thought  that  the  highest 
achievement  is  to  be  found  in  sacrifice  for  others.  It  was 
in  this  age  that  the  idea  was  first  expressed  of  Israel's 
mission  as  a  light  to  the  Gentiles.  The  earlier  prophets 
had  recognized  Jehovah  as  God  of  nations,  ruling  all 
with  even-handed  justice,  while  loving  his  own  people 


REVIEW  155 

with  an  unquenchable  love.  Malachi  declared  that  sin- 
cere Gentiles  are  acceptable  to  God  and  the  author  of 
Jonah  taught  that  the  God  whose  just  rule  extended  over 
the  nations  looked  upon  the  crudest  of  them  all  in  com- 
passion and  in  readiness  to  spare  them  at  the  first  cry  of 
penitence.  Out  of  Hosea' skitter  suffering  came  the  first 
clear  message_tQ  Israe]  that  the  God  of  j ustice  loved Jus 
own '  uncKangeably .  Out  of  the  bitter  experiences  of  an 
oppressed  nation  whose  hope  of  deliverance  was  delayed 
through  centuries  came  the  first  clear  message  that  the 
God  of  Israel  looked  with  compassion  upon  the  heathen. 
When  Israel  was  independent  and  indifferent  to  her 
God,  the  message  of  prophecy  was  largely  one  of  threat- 
ened judgment.  When  she  was  cast  down  in  utter  de- 
spair, no  longer  a  nation  among  the  nations  of  earth,  the 
note  of  hope,  never  wholly  wanting  in  the  prophet's  song, 
became  dominant  as  prophet  after  prophet  caught  up  the 
strain  through  the  long  night  of  subjection  to  foreign 
domination.  Israel's  prophets  hoped  when  all  others 
despaired  because  there  had  been  given  to  them  a  vision 
of  the  God  of  Israel  as  a  God  of  justice,  and  of  compas- 
sion upon  all  mankind. 

II.     ANALYSIS  OF  LESSON 

III.     Prophets  of  the  Exile  and  Restoration. 

1.  Ezekiel,  the  priest  prophet. 

2.  Obadiah,  the  voice  of  Israel  against  an  enemy. 

3.  Isaiah  40-55,  the  prophet  of  deliverance. 

4.  Haggai,  the  prophet  of  practical  accomplishment. 

5.  Zechariah,  the  prophet  of  spiritual  preparation  for  the 

temple. 


156     PROPHETS  OF  THE  AGE  OF  LEGALISM 

6.  Malachi,  the  prophet  of  whole-hearted  worship. 

7.  Isaiah  56-66,  the  prophet  of  Jerusalem's  future. 
IV.     Prophets  of  the  Age  of  Legalism.      j 

1.  Joel,  the  prophet  of  the  day  of  Jehovah. 

2.  Jonah,  the  prophet  of  God's  compassion. 

3.  Daniel,  the  prophet  of  comfort  in  persecution. 

Home  Readings. — The  following  selections  are  suggested  for  the 
daily  reading  of  Scripture,  during  the  week  of  review:  (I)  Eze- 
kiel  18:  1-24;  (2)  Isaiah  52:  13-53:  12;  (3)  ZechariahS;  (4)  Mal- 
achi 3:  1-12;  (5)  Isaiah  59;  (6)  Jonah  4;  (7)  Daniel  12. 

III.     POINTS  FOR  REVIEW  IN  CLASS 

NOTE. — A  selection  may  be  made  from  the  following  questions, 
or,  if  time  permits,  two  weeks  may  profitably  be  devoted  to  this 
final  review,  some  of  the  topics,  suggested  below,  and  other  topics, 
that  have  arisen,  being  assigned  to  individuals  for  written  discus- 
sion. 

Names  of  the  prophets  of  exile  and  restoration,  of  age  of  legal- 
ism  ;  length  of  period  from  Ezekiel  to  Daniel ;  sharp  change  in 
work  of  prophets  brought  about  by  the  exile,  and  the  reason  for  it ; 
the  prophets  who  especially  labored  for  Israel's  formal  religion ; 
indication  of  Ezekiel's  breadth  of  nature ;  the  function  of  Obadiah ; 
personality  of  the  author  of  Isaiah  40-55 ;  the  supplementary  per- 
sonalities of  Haggai  and  Zechariah  (compare  the  way  in  which 
Amos  and  Hosea  supplemented  each  other) ;  the  attractive  ele- 
ment in  Malachi's  nature ;  the  personality  behind  Isaiah  56-66 ; 
Joel  and  the  age  of  Jewish  exclusiveness ;  the  spirit  of  the  author  of 
Jonah ;  the  personality  of  the  author  of  Daniel ;  external  influences 
upon  Israel  from  time  of  Ezekiel  to  writing  of  Daniel ;  work  of  the 
prophets  in  shaping  Levitical  tendencies  of  Judaism ;  the  advance 
in  moral  and  spiritual  teaching  that  is  due  to  Ezekiel ;  the  supreme 
thought  given  to  the  world  by  the  servant  passages ;  the  breadth 
of  thought  in  Malachi ;  the  gospel  message  of  Jonah ;  the  domi- 


REVIEW  157 

nant  note  of  prophecy  in  times  of  darkness ;  the  firm  foundation 
on  which  the  prophetic  hopes  ever  rested ;  what  is  the  fundamental 
element  in  all  the  moral  and  spiritual  teaching  of  the  prophets  ? 
is  Christ's  fulfilment  of  prophecy  to  be  found  chiefly  by  searching 
for  agreements  between  detailed  predictions  and  events  in  his 
outer  life  or  by  recognizing  his  perfect  realization  of  all  that  the 
prophets  had  taught  as  to  the  nature  of  God  and  the  duty  and 
destiny  of  man  ?  if  we  adopt  the  latter  view,  is  prophecy  more  or 
less  helpful  to  faith  in  Christ  than  it  was  on  the  former  view  ? 


I$8        PROPHETS  OF  THE  AGE  OF  LEGALISM 

APPENDIX 
BOOKS  OF  REFERENCE 

The  standard  Biblical  introductions  and  dictionary 
articles  furnish  concise  discussions  of  the  historical  and 
literary  questions  that  may  arise  in  connection  with  each 
book.  For  a  general  introduction  to  the  entire  Bible 
that  of  Bennett  and  Adeney  (Thomas  Whittaker,  New 
York),  will  be  found  the  most  convenient.  Driver's  In- 
troduction to  the  Old  Testament  (Scribner's,  New  York), 
discusses  problems  of  Old  Testament  criticism  much 
more  thoroughly  than  the  foregoing,  and  is  -a  work  of 
remarkably  judicial  temper.  In  Kautzsch's  Literature 
of  the  Old  Testament  (G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  New 
York),  and  Bennett's  Primer  of  the  Bible  (Henry  Holt 
&  Co.,  New  York),  attractive  discussions  of  the  growth 
of  Old  Testament  literature  will  be  found.  The  articles 
on  the  several  prophets  in  Hastings'  Bible  Dictionary 
are  usually  very  satisfactory.  This  work  must  largely 
replace  the  once  excellent  Smith's  Bible  Dictionary. 
The  articles  on  the  prophets  in  the  ninth  edition  of  the 
Encyclopaedia  Britannica  are  still  very  helpful. 

Vivid  presentations  of  the  prophets  in  connection  with 
the  history  of  their  times  will  be  found  in  The  Prophets 
of  Israel,  by  C.  H.  Cornill  (Open  Court  Publishing  Co., 
Chicago);  The  Prophets  of  Israel,  by  W.  Robertson 
Smith  (D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  New  York),  (eighth  century 
prophets  only),  and  in  the  Men  of  the  Bible  series,  vol- 
umes on  Isaiah,  by  S.  R.  Driver ;  Jeremiah,  by  T.  K. 


BOOKS  OF  REFERENCE  159 

Cheyne ;  Minor  Prophets,  by  F.  W.  Farrar ;  Haggai, 
Zechariah  and  Malachi,  by  Marcus  Dods  (A.  D.  F.  Ran- 
dolph, New  York). 

For  the  interpretation  of  individual  passages,  reference 
should  be  made  to  the  modern  commentaries.  Of  these 
the  following  may  be  mentioned  as  helpful :  Expositor's 
Bible  (A.  C.  Armstrong  &  Son,  New  York) — Isaiah 
(2  vols.),  The  Book  of  the  Twelve  (2  vols.),  by  George 
Adam  Smith,  Jeremiah,  by  W.  H.  Bennett,  Ezekiel,  by 
John  Skinner ;  Cambridge  Bible  for  Schools  and  Col- 
leges— Isaiah  (2  vols.),  by  John  Skinner,  Hosea,  Micah, 
by  T.  K.  Cheyne,  Ezekiel,  by  A.  B.  Davidson,  Nahum, 
Habakkuk,  and  Zephaniah,  by  A.  B.  Davidson,  Daniel, 
Joel,  Amos,  by  S.  R.  Driver.  In  the  Messages  of  the 
Bible  series,  by  Sanders  and  Kent  (Scribner's,  New 
York),  the  volumes  on  the  Earlier  Prophets  and  the  Later 
Prophets,  furnish  a  popular  introduction  and  interpreta- 
tion that  will  often  be  found  most  illuminating. 


14  DAY  USE  i 

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